Acute surgery at Monaghan General Hospital ceased from yesterday following the reorganisation of surgical services in Cavan and Monaghan by the Health Service Executive (HSE).
All acute surgery will now be provided in Cavan General Hospital, and only day surgery will take place in Monaghan.
However, the Monaghan Hospital Community Alliance (MHCA), which had been campaigning for the restoration of emergency surgery at the Monaghan hospital and delivered a coffin to the gates of Leinster House on Saturday, is to establish a public inquiry in a bid to have the services reinstated.
The reorganisation of the hospitals stems from years of conflict in Cavan General's surgical unit, which was described as dysfunctional by the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI) in 2004.
The HSE recruited three new permanent consultant surgeons to replace locums at both Cavan and Monaghan surgical units, bringing to five the number of permanent surgeons in the hospitals.
The surgeons will all now be based in Cavan, and will visit Monaghan hospital daily to provide day surgery for the region.
A spokeswoman for the HSE said the need for the reorganisation of acute surgical services in Cavan/Monaghan was based on the need for patient safety, good clinical care and service to the community.
"Following the RCSI report on surgical services in Cavan General Hospital presented to the Minister for Health and Children in November 2004, the Minister asked the RCSI to make a series of specific recommendations to be implemented," the spokeswoman said. "These arrangements are to be introduced . . . to coincide with the arrival of newly-appointed consultant surgeons."
Peadar McMahon, chairman of the MHCA, said they would continue to fight to save services in Monaghan. "This particular blow is the lethal injection which could eventually close down the hospital, but we will continue to campaign to save it."
He rejected suggestions that the reorganisation was required on safety grounds. "Is it safe for people to lie in an ambulance for over an hour before they get to hospital, or to lie on trolleys in a corridor when there are 26 beds empty in Monaghan?"
The group is hopeful its independent public inquiry will be established by the end of April and will demonstrate the need for surgical services at Monaghan hospital.
"Three eminent people will chair the inquiry, one with a medical background, one lay person and one with a legal background," Mr McMahon said. "The Minister, the Department of Health and the HSE will be invited to make submissions."
He said two of the potential inquiry members had asked to see the book of evidence before agreeing to participate and it would be prepared following statements from those "traumatised or bereaved" due to the loss of services at the hospital.
