There is enormous concern over the proposed change of status for Roscommon County Hospital, according to Cllr. Eugene Murphy. ‘Six weeks ago or so in a press release to local media, I predicted exactly what was going to be proposed, but few people inside or outside Fianna Fáil wanted to believe what I was saying.’ Cllr. Murphy welcomed some aspects of Professor Drumm’s statement on the future of services at Roscommon County Hospital, and said that the moving of much of the day surgery to the County Hospital from Galway would see the hospital very busy every day of the week. He also welcomed the movement of some other services into the Hospital, but he pointed out that all such services would have to be fully staffed and have proper equipment in place. ‘However many members of the public are not reassured on the proposed changes to the A&E. The changing of the status of the A&E unit between 8 pm and 8 am is leaving people disappointed and fearful. The general public is particularly worried about the lack of full A&E service at weekends, and I’m concerned about this area myself. We need to have a major upgrading of our ambulance services and also a major injection of funds into road infrastructure if this whole plan is to work and gain the confidence of the general public.’ Cllr. Murphy stated that he would still not rule out intervention by Minister Michael Finneran even at this late stage. ‘He has been very strong on the hospital issue and indeed other health issues over the years and I’m sure he is still trying everything to sort this matter out.’
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