New 'grassroots' healthcare group wants to collect evidence from public

The new Cavan Monaghan Campaign Group is holidng its inaugral meeting this Thursday in Monaghan

A NEW ‘grassroots’ community group has been set up to campaign for improved services for hospital patients and their families in Cavan and Monaghan.

The newly-established Cavan Monaghan Campaign Group is centred on five core asks: safe healthcare, accountability, transparency, better access to treatment and commitment to improvement.

The group want to collate real data, real evidence of patterns and issues that are arising from local people. To that end the group are holding a public meeting at 7:30pm this Thursday, June 18 at the Pastoral Centre, Monaghan Town.

“We want to hear from the people to see their lived experiences of healthcare services in Cavan Monaghan that matter,” co-founder of the group, Olivia Larkin said.

A survey will be taken at Thursday’s meeting so as to establish a clear picture and “use it for the better.”

“Since we started our group, it has become more apparent as to why it is so important. We have had scores of people contacting us with their stories. However, we need more that anecdotal evidence,” Olivia added.

“There is strength in numbers and we need to advocate for better and lobby our elected representatives who haven’t been as vocal in the issue as they could and should be,” she said.