An Insight into the Area We Live in

St. Brigid’s Could
Again Be An
Economic Driver
BY CIARA BERESFORD
Local TD, Denis
Naughten has
called on the IDA
to redouble its
efforts to promote
Ballinasloe to
foreign investors in
light of the fact that
there is now 8,000
square metres of
potential serviced
offices on the St.
Brigid’s campus.
The old admissions building and nurses home would be ideally suited
to develop as office accommodation for an international investor who
requires office space with high speed broadband access.
The site of the hospital has the State-owned Metropolitan Area
Network broadband cable running at the front of the building and
the Irish Rail and Bord Gáis networks to the north of the site. All three
of these networks are now being managed by ENET, which would
allow a new enterprise to tap in without large up front charges.
With the availability of natural gas and the upgrade of the water supplies
in both Co. Roscommon and Galway, and with massive spare capacity in
the new sewerage treatment plant in Creagh (enough for an additional
1200 population), the town of Ballinasloe is in an ideal position to
capitalise on some of the infrastructure problems on the East Coast.
“Recently PayPal, which employs 2,400 people in Dublin and Dundalk,
asked staff to make spare rooms available because of the dire shortage
of homes and apartments to rent. This would not be a problem in
Ballinasloe and the surrounding towns and villages.” Stated the local
Drum based T.D.
There have also been reports of IT and software businesses based in
Dublin that have stalled their expansion plans because of the lack of
office space. With the availability of the St. Brigid’s campus, this now
provides Ballinasloe with a competitive advantage.
“With the infrastructure in place and with a population of approximately
80,000 people within a 30 minute drive of Ballinasloe, I believe the IDA
has the material to make a major play for new investment in the town,”
concluded Denis Naughten.
HOSPITAL WATCH
BY CIARA BERESFORD
Confirmation
has been
received from
the HSE that
an Emergency
Department
consultant
post has been
approved for
Portiuncula
Hospital. The
post will be
filled on a
temporary
Director of Elections Dr John Barton, Minister
Varadkar and Roscommon County Councillor
Maura Hopkins.
basis while the HSE seeks approval to create a
permanent position. This investment is crucial given the
wide catchment area the A&E at Portiuncula serves
“It’s essential to ensure that the hospital is adequately funded, given
the current demand on the health service”, says Roscommon County
Councillor, Maura Hopkins, who recently paid a visit to the hospital
alongside her Director of Elections, Dr John Barton and Minister
Varadkar, where she impressed upon him the need for continued
investment at the facility.
The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) has found, following
an analysis of its Trolley and Ward Watch figures for the month of December
2015, that the level of overcrowding nationally has decreased by 13%
compared to December 2014. However, a year on year analysis found that
there was an increase of 21% in overcrowding from January to December
2015 compared to the same period for 2014.
Although the level of crowding, annually and nationally has increased
by 21%, Portiuncula Hospital has seen a significant drop in Trolley and
Ward Watch figures from 126 in 2014 to 32 in 2015, which is a drop
of 75%. Meanwhile in University Hospital Galway, there has been an
increase from 421 to 502 in 2015, a slight increase of 16%.
The INMO publishes these figures following the recent introduction of a
significantly strengthened, escalation policy designed to assist with ED
overcrowding. The new framework is intended to support Hospital Groups
and Community Health Organisations in developing integrated escalation
plans so that capacity and patient throughout is appropriately managed at
a time of excess demand on emergency and acute services.
The combination of the Ministerial Directive and the revised
escalation policy now clearly prioritises the pressures within the
Emergency Department above other elective (routine) activity within
the hospital. This is an absolute requirement if we are to reduce ED
overcrowding and improve the environment for patients and staff
working in these departments and throughout the hospital.
“It is now absolutely vital that the HSE, at national level, and at senior level
within all Hospital Groups, immediately commits to fully operating the
revised policy. Their priority must be to reduce overcrowding and ensure
that nurses can practice safely within a manageable working environment
so that we never see these figures again”, added Liam Doran, General
Secretary INMO.
“While the new measures to tackle overcrowding are welcome, the
longer term solution to solve the ED crisis is for the Government to, once
and for all, provide proper funding to reverse the severe cuts over the
past number of years and prepare for the future needs of our sick and
vulnerable. There is a clear need for investment in beds, both hospital
and community, primary care services and staffing”, he concluded.
Trolley Watch Numbers Portiuncula
Average 5.7 per day
for January 2015
Average 1.3 per day
for January 2016
76%
Decrease
BUSINESS 13