Published: Wednesday, 27th January, 2010 5:00pm

O'Reilly demands return of fracture clinic to Cavan

by Michael Cryan

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The A&E department at Cavan General Hospital.

A Cavan County Councillor has demanded that the HSE return the fracture clinic to Cavan General Hospital as a matter of urgency. Paddy O'Reilly from Virginia said it was unfair to ask elderly people from West Cavan to travel all the way to Drogheda for treatment. "There is no direct bus from Blacklion to Drogheda." It could take patients an estimated three hours to get from West Cavan to Drogheda if they had to rely on public transport, he said.

"It is due to this unsatisfactory arrangement that I call for the return of the clinic."

Fellow Cavan representative, Cllr. Gerry Murray, said during the recent spell of bad weather he was aware of an elderly person who dislocated their shoulder. The patient had a follow-up appointment with a specialist in Drogheda but could not make the appointment because of the lack of transport. "We are not doing anything for these patients."

Cllr. O'Reilly said there had been a lot of promises regarding the primary care service but as far as he was aware it was at a "stand still." He did not think that they should be going down the line of "best international practice" all the time. In this day and age it was unfair to treat the elderly like that, he added.