Cutbacks deprive over 400 patients of surgery, say Navan doctors

Up to 450 patients could have been treated at the regional orthopaedic unit at Our Lady"s Hospital Navan up to December if the unit had not been closed down because of budgetary constraints imposed by the Health Service Executive (HSE), according to a consultant surgeon at the hospital. Lead clinician Mr Declan Reidy said that, within the north-east region, orthopaedics had suffered the most severe cutbacks than any other medical speciality. He also insisted that, within the country overall, the elective orthopaedic unit in Navan had suffered greater cutbacks than any other unit in the country. He said he did not know of any other specialised unit in the country which had been closed down. The people of the region were being discriminated against on a geographical basis, he said. 'In Britain, it"s known as postcode lottery,' he said. Since the HSE announced the closure of the orthopaedic unit from the end of this week until sometime in January, there has been a wide disparity between the health body and the orthopaedic consultants in Navan about the numbers of patients who would have their operations put back to the New Year. Sinn Fein had claimed that 500 people would have their operations put back to the New Year as a result of the unit"s closure. The HSE said that between 40 and 50 patients who were set to have knee or hip operations at the unit have had their surgery put back to the New Year because of the continuing financial crisis in the service. The regional orthopaedic unit at Our Lady"s Hospital is closing until the New Year because the €600,000 which was meant to see it through to mid-December has run out. The HSE said that the €600,000 was due to cover 187 patients as part of a reduced three-day operation schedule at the unit. It added that 187 patients had been scheduled for operations up to the end of the year. Of these, 138 had already had their operations. A further five were to be treated this week, four patients had been deemed unfit for surgery, six patients had deferred their own treatment, one had been deferred because the consultant was on leave, 10 were cancelled due to water problems in the orthopaedic unit, and 23 patients had not received confirmed appointments. A further 108 people who had not been scheduled had then be prioritised by consultant surgeons at the hospital, the HSE added. The health authority was adamant that only 11 operations had been cancelled. It added that, due to a surge of priority cases, the budget for the unit would be exhausted by 21st November. Up to 44 of the original 187 patients who had been given appointments will now have to wait until the New Year for their treatment. However, the surgeons working in the orthopaedic unit have challenged the HSE figures and said that the 187 patients it refers to was the 'snapshot' of the number of patients waiting for treatment on 17th September. They state that the actual capacity of the unit was the figure that the HSE should have been working on. The Meath Chronicle has been told that the seven surgeons at the unit would routinely run lists of patients, some of them for four to six weeks ahead and others eight weeks ahead. Each list would have on average of six to eight patients, and up to 50 operations would be performed each week. The surgeons are adamant that up to 450 patients would have been treated if the unit had stayed open. Sinn Fein Cllr Joe Reilly described the closure of the unit as 'yet another savage attack on the elderly'. He said that these cuts to a key service for the people of Meath were 'a disgrace'. Speaking at a SF demonstration outside the hospital at the weekend, he said: 'This department carried out approximately 100 procedures per week. At the earliest, it will open in January. That is at least 500 operations cancelled - 500 people spending Christmas in pain.'