Roscommon Fianna Fáil TD Michael Finneran has said he will withdraw his support from Government if inpatient surgery services are removed from the county hospital.
Michael Finneran
Mr Finneran told a public meeting of up to 700 people in Roscommon last night that he would stridently oppose a Health Service Executive plan to merge existing surgical units at Portiuncula and Roscommon county hospitals into one department at Portiuncula hospital in Ballinasloe.
An expanded joint anaesthesia department to serve both hospitals is also planned.
Mr Finneran told ireland.comthis afternoon that if the HSE plan was implemented, he would cease to support the Government. This would be the first time he would have opposed the Government since he joined the Oireachtas in 1989, he said.
The HSE proposal is due to be discussed by the Cabinet in September.
"The Government made its decision on this already. On three separate occasions the Minister for Health and the Taoiseach said Roscommon would not be downgraded.
"This is a core issue for the area. If the inpatient surgical services are removed from Roscommon it will downgrade the hospital to nursing home status."
Mr Finneran said he has arranged meetings with the Taoiseach and Tánaiste to discuss the issue.
The HSE plan would see Roscommon Hospital specialise in day-case surgery and a consultant would be available around the clock. The plan follows a review of the services in the region carried out by the HSE.
