Stranorlar group confirms split for SOS hospital grouping

A group formed to represent the concerns of St Joseph’s Hospital in Stranorlar has split from the general Save Our Hospitals campaign in Donegal.

A statement issued today by the chairman of the Stranorlar group, Fr John Joe Duffy, confirmed they are no longer affiliated to the SOS grouping.

However, the group says it will “continue to campaign for the mandate given to us by the people of the Finn Valley.”

The statement says “The short term solutions being offered presently to the Save Our Services umbrella group will only be enough to get over the next hump, and does not guarantee a permanent and long term solution for our hospital. This was not the plan we signed up to at a packed meeting in Jackson’s Hotel on Saturday 13th February 2016 when we were mandated to seek a plan that would guarantee our hospitals for future generations.”

The following is the statement issued by Fr Duffy and his group.

We, the Save Our St Joseph’s Hospital Action Group Committee have been mandated by the people and we will stick rigidly to that mandate. The first fact is that it is abundantly clear that no capital announcement has been made for the two hospitals. Secondly, the action plan for the three hospitals is not complete and it is not expected to be completed for another 6-8 weeks. The third fact is that the plan is only being drafted and what is currently being proposed in the partially drafted plan will only bring the standards required up to 2018. It does not meet the long term requirements. And, we are all aware that the current HIQA standards are a derogation only which means they are not the full requirements which will be placed upon the hospitals in the post 2018 context, which will mean that additional works will be necessary to guarantee long stay beds/residential units. So the overall position regarding this plan that is being drafted is that it is only a basic interim measure that will only carry over the hospitals to 2018/19. The solution being offered does not meet the original demand of our campaign from 21st February 2016 as outlined in the press statement issued on that date, which is still the position and demands of the St Joseph’s Committee. The St Joseph’s Committee cannot agree any interim solution as this will be selling short the mandate given to us by the thousands of people who marched on the streets of Ballybofey/Stranorlar on Saturday 13th February 2016.

Our campaign is based on the goal and aim of securing long term beds/residential unit, short stay capacity, dementia unit and full restoration of all services, full restoration of staffing numbers and an absolute guarantee that long term bed capacity and dementia unit capacity will be guaranteed into 2030 and beyond.
The Save Our St Joseph’s Hospital Action Group Committee as of 16th January 2017, have had no representation on the Save Our Services umbrella group, and we have had no interaction with the SOS umbrella group and from that date, they have not and no longer represent Save Our St Joseph’s Hospital Action Group, St Joseph’s Hospital Stranorlar, or the views that we hold and represent.

Our Committee support any new hospital, including that at Letterkenny, but not at the expense of ours. It has to be additional capacity to our hospital. Our Hospital cannot be sold short and placed into a situation that an existing hospital twenty minutes from us will be on a different playing pitch to us. We must be treated equally with the new building and be given the same level of commitment so that St Joseph’s Hospital and all its services, including long term beds/residential unit and dementia unit be brought onto the same playing level as the new hospital building in Letterkenny. We must have certainty and guarantee that the standards at both hospitals will be equal post 2021. We require that level of commitment from government and the HSE. We, in St Joseph’s Committee, are looking at a permanent long term solution that will see our hospital with the same level of standards as the new building at Letterkenny into 2030 and beyond. We need this long term solution and if we were to look at anything shorter than that, at any temporary little arrangement or interim measure, we will be allowing ourselves to be hoodwinked and we would be walking our hospital into closure. The short term solutions being offered presently to the Save Our Services umbrella group will only be enough to get over the next hump, and does not guarantee a permanent and long term solution for our hospital. This was not the plan we signed up to at a packed meeting in Jackson’s Hotel on Saturday 13th February 2016 when we were mandated to seek a plan that would guarantee our hospitals for future generations.

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