Why is HSE keeping us all in the dark?

THE confusion over the SouthDoc service in Skibbereen is very worrying for anyone living in the town, or the very large catchment area.

This catchment stretches out to the Castlehaven peninsula, along the coast to Baltimore, which is packed with holidaymakers this time of year, and north to Drinagh and surrounds, a heavily populated rural area.

Skibbereen, one of the largest towns in West Cork, also has an increasing population, as those relocating since Covid have found it an ideal location to rear a family, with good schools, sports facilities, shops and an excellent selection of beaches and other leisure-time options.

And these families must now be worried that the local out-of-hours doctors’ service appears to be moving to Bantry – a distance of at least 40  minutes from many parts of the Skibbereen catchment.

While 40 minutes might not seem like a big distance initially, bear in mind that is 40 minutes to the only doctor on call after-hours, at weekends, or on bank holidays.

Skibbereen Medical Centre, which used to operate on Saturday mornings, no longer does so.

Add to the mix the many hundreds of holidaymakers and young children in the area this time of year – and the number of accidents that happen on holidays – and it is no wonder the story of the ‘closure’ of SouthDoc in Skibbereen has been big news for the last few weeks.

Yet, bizarrely, the HSE repeatedly denies there has been any change to the Skibbereen service.

Even after suggesting there was anecdotal evidence of its closure, the HSE still denied there was any issue – as recently as this week.

‘All calls to Southdoc are handled by the call centre in Killarney and SouthDoc treatment centres in West Cork will continue to operate by appointment only,’ we were told. ‘Any patients that may require a house visit, due to their clinical condition, will be treated accordingly. SouthDoc continues to deliver the service in response to the patient needs in a manner, which assures safety, ease and equity of access. Skibereen (sic) treatment centre remains operational in this regard. All patients are dealt with in accordance with their clinical needs.’

From that reading, one would think that there was no issue at all with Skibbereen, and that it was ‘business as usual’ at the town’s out-of-hours service.

When pressed again and specifically asked, if there was even a ‘pilot’ scheme operating to trial a move to Bantry, the HSE issued the following statement: ‘Regarding South West Doctors-on-Call Company Limited by Guarantee (known as SouthDoc), there is no pilot scheme in place in Skibbereen. Southdoc is committed to the long-term continuation of the provision of the out-of-hours medical service across Cork and Kerry. There are no plans to close any treatment centres, or to withdraw the availability of – or access to – SouthDoc’s services for patients in the West Cork area generally. All patients are currently dealt with by appointment only and this will remain unchanged.’

It did confirm there was no ‘pilot’ scheme in Skibbereen, but it didn’t confirm that the Skibbereen service was intact. 

In a near-replica of the situation in Skibbereen, the town of Fermoy was up in arms last week over its belief that it was losing its SouthDoc service – again denied by the HSE.

And in Kanturk, it was reported that just a week after the publication of a letter from Health Minister Stephen Donnelly to local TD Michael Moynihan assuring inhabitants of the town that their out-of-hours medical service would retain its hours, locals were told the service was effectively closed and they would have to travel to Mallow after 6pm.

In response to the issues raised in north Cork, the HSE issued another denial of any reduced service, saying it was ‘committed to the long-term continuation of the provision of the out-of-hours medical service across Cork and Kerry.’

Prompted by rising concerns over north Cork, The Southern Star once more asked the HSE to clarifiy the issue in West Cork.

We were issued with this response: ‘Southdoc continuously reviews its operations and the allocation of doctors (rosters), both member GPs and locum doctors, to enable the most effective allocation of their clinical expertise and to ensure the safest service is delivered.

‘SouthDoc presently provides a quantum of service from 6pm to 8am each weekday and 24-hour cover at weekends and public holidays across Cork and Kerry. SouthDoc does not have any plans to alter this quantum of service commitment.’

We are still at pains to figure out what exactly a ‘quantum of service commitment’ means – and especially in the context of the Skibbereen versus Bantry SouthDoc service.

When an organ of the State cannot reply to a simple query in plain English, it raises suspicions immediately. 

Journalists have long been at the receiving end of the public service’s ‘mushroom’ strategy of PR – being kept in the dark and filled with … well, fertiliser, to put it mildly.

But when that strategy is being employed by the organ of the State that deals with an emergency medical service, then we have reached a very sad ‘State’ of affairs, indeed.

Sometimes, a simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer can be very endearing.