“Fianna Fáil should be honest on hospital” – Brian McKenna

North Monaghan & Regional Health Forum member Cllr. Brian McKenna has welcomed the fact that Deputy Margaret Conlon has finally woken up to the potential for development at Monaghan General Hospital. However the Sinn Féin Councillor said that Fianna Fáil couldn’t have it both ways – stating that they have no say in relation to decisions affecting the hospital one minute and then claiming to be making a contribution to its future in the next sentence.

Cllr. McKenna said “perhaps if Deputy Conlon had been as positive and forceful when the HSE were removing services from Monaghan General Hospital we wouldn’t be in the situation we are now. Instead Deputy Conlon, and her Fianna Fáil colleagues, used the HSE mantra that no service would be removed until another was put in place elsewhere when clearly the HSE had failed to provide alternative and accessible services for the people. I don’t think that people will be fooled by this so called 5 point plan for Monaghan General Hospital. What Deputy Conlon should be calling for is the return of medical cover to our hospital and for the ICU to treat patients suffering from heart attacks. What has been suggested is all very low key, the bulk either already committed or being argued for by a variety of voices.

“Many of us have been battling with the HSE over the past 12 months to ensure patients from Drogheda and Dublin hospitals would be repatriated to Monaghan and we now have that commitment in place. The long promised CT scanner will soon be operational as a result of continued pressure on the HSE when both Deputy O’Hanlon and Deputy Conlon were silent on these issues.

“What the people of Monaghan now want and deserve is honesty from government representatives such as Deputy Conlon. They can force a change in HSE policy and they could have prevented services being removed from our hospital. They should acknowledge their failures to date and join with Sinn Féin, Fine Gael and the Hospital Alliance in our shared campaign to have them restored.”