A prominent GP has said she has no confidence in the out-of-hours medical arrangements recommended for Monaghan hospital.
Dr Illona Duffy, a Monaghan GP and hospital activist, criticised the Bonner Report's conclusions on the future arrangements for medical and surgical care between midnight and 8 a.m. at the hospital. The report was commissioned following the death of baby Bronagh Livingstone.
Dr Duffy also questioned whether the hospital would ever receive the midwifery-led obstetrics service recommended by Mr Kevin Bonner.The report, which was published by the Minister for Health, Mr Martin, on Friday suggests an emergency treatment centre should operate at Monaghan hospital between 8 a.m. and midnight. Outside of these hours the report suggests that to access the treatment centre after midnight, a patient be referred by their GP, the North Eastern GP Co-Operative or the ambulance service. "No walk-in patients will be seen after midnight," it adds.
Dr Duffy said yesterday she would have no confidence referring patients to the hospital between midnight and 8 a.m. "The suggestion that no walk-in patients will be seen is not a realistic one. "People will present to the hospital in a panic and the question remains: who will be there to treat them?"
Mr Martin has said he has accepted the main recommendations of the report: "That Monaghan General Hospital should continue to play a vital role in the delivery of acute hospital services to the local community."
However, a press statement accompanying the report's publication said: "The report's recommendations in relation to the range and configuration of acute services to be delivered within the groups will now require consideration by the North Eastern Health Board.
"The forthcoming Medical Staffing (Hanly) Report will further inform the position in this regard."