Minister for Health asked to meet hospital staff during visit

Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill has been invited to visit Monaghan Hospital and meet with staff there to discuss the facility’s needs.

The call came ahead of a planned visit to counties Cavan and Monaghan by the Health Minister set for tomorrow (Thursday).

A motion was moved at Monday’s meeting of the Monaghan Municipal District by Fine Gael councillors Alan Johnston and Pauric Clerkin calling for “additional clinical funding for improved patient services” at the hospital and inviting Minister MacNeill, who is expected to perform the sod turning for the new extension at Cavan General Hospital this week, to visit the Monaghan site.

Cllr Johnston, the current MD Cathaoirleach, said that Monaghan Hospital’s clinical team can best identify what is needed there, and any new services will require funding for additional beds and staff. At present services are needed at the hospital, which can’t be delivered because they require an anaesthetist team, he pointed out.

Seconding, Cllr Clerkin said he felt it important that the Minister visits Monaghan Hospital and allays “some concerns and misinformation that are out there”. He referred to social media posts, which he said create the impression that the MD and Monaghan County Council have the power to fully reopen Monaghan Hospital.

“It is important that people send out the right message in this era of fake news,” stated Cllr Clerkin.

It is also important, he added, that the Minister sees for herself the excellent services at Monaghan Hospital, which has undergone a recent refurbishment. “Now we need more services and staff,” Cllr Clerkin told the meeting.

Cllr Bronagh McAree (SF) said it is very important that Minister MacNeill visits and takes time to speak with the Monaghan Hospital management team and frontline staff to get a grasp of their needs. She suggested that the MD also meet with the hospital staff to see what they can do for them.

Cllr McAree added that “a false message” is being circulated about Monaghan County Council’s new civic offices project and Monaghan Hospital, asking why the money for the project can’t be invested in the hospital.

Minister’s visit

Meanwhile, Minister Carroll MacNeill is due in Cavan and Monaghan tomorrow (Thursday), July 23.

It’s understood that she will visit Monaghan Hospital around lunchtime to officially open a new dementia friendly ward and dementia/memorial gardens.

From there, she is due at Cavan General Hospital to turn the sod on major multi-million euro extension projects there.

While her schedule includes meeting and greeting staff at both facilities, it’s not known how much time the Minister will have for any more detailed meetings on issues such as those raised at the Monaghan MD level.