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Breast Cancer Protest
national |
consumer issues |
opinion/analysis
Wednesday November 21, 2007 13:04 by C Murray
It was good to hear the women sufferers talk...
A protest of Sligo and Letrim women converged on the Dail this early afternoon, with
Balloons, a pipe-band and attendant politicians (from all parties except PD's).
The Junior Minister for Health (FF) came out and addressed the crowd, some of who
were tired and upset. After a battery of 'political suits' someone had the bright idea to
put the women on the platform and the stories came out. They have said that they will
no longer travel to access treatment which they have worked and paid for.
They said they do not require a two tier health system and that indeed they have
a centre of excellence already. They spoke of leaving home and family with query
breast cancer and having to access bus, train or taxi to be there for their kids.
Largely they said 'enough'.
Sligo women will not let their unit be downgraded. Sligo General Hospital has a mammography and cancer surgery centre which facilitates a community.
They fought long and hard for the unit and for their surgical team. They are not about to lose it because
of someone drawing a line on a map in an arbitary manner. The map came to the protest and on it
the Island of Ireland with a line drawn beneath Galway East- not one dedicated cancer care unit for the
whole North-East of the country, this effects: Galway, Mayo, Sligo, Letrim and to a lesser extent
Cavan-Monaghan where patients are going to be sent to the Beaumont in Dublin.
There is a health service action group being set up on a country wide basis, wherin grassroot
political and community action will set out to accomplish- a dedicated response to affordable
Nationla Healthcare and community need-
No-one person attending the protest requires, supports or wants a health system where public
health care is sacrificed to centre's of excellence that do not fulfill those needs and create
and sustain a two tier system. In short they want public access to quality of care on pUblic
campuses and not centres of excellence for private care available to a few.
The women spoke about having diagnosis of malignant tumour and how their treatment and
travel (as it stands) is exhausting them and taking them away from their families.
They have said that they will work to ensure that the plans for Sligo are not carried out and
that they will retain the services that they deserve.
The mainstream media will cover the political speeches but suffice it to say that all
political parties in the area with both Dail and Council reps have said that there is an
agreed political consensus on the issue- they will not let the services in Sligo be cut
due to an arbitary plan and they will force a decision at the cabinet table to retain the
service and ensure that Sligo will be the ninth centre of excellence-
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Comments (22 of 22)
Jump To Comment: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22Congrats to all involved. This has been getting wide spread media attention with most bulletins running it as the lead or second story.
FF have sacrificed Jimmy Devins (or at least allowed him come out against the whip) to fool the electorate of Sligo/leitrim into thinking that this muppet represents them.
We will never learn.
The women who appeared at the Dail (mainly in buses) are there to underscore their revulsion at the
PD privatisiation and how it effects them locally, I spoke with a few of them and they did not know how
the run-down in maternity services in the capital are effecting our communities. Thats the thing with
politics and thats how many of them get away with it for years- clientelism- if we don't look at the whole
picture , then money can be moved from one place to another and problems appear elsewhere.
Drumm has taken money from maternity, I heard a report today of another young woman being
released 18 hours after giving birth (first child) and she is very isolated like the one in Dublin.
There is an increasing pressure on the outpatients service and clerical staff with women and infants
now having to access maternity services either through staff being sent to homes in the case
of the heel prick test or having to travel to clinics to access basic services and supports.
There is no plan to it, there is little response to need and little thought to how money is spent.
It is a fully functional and operational two-tier system. if anyone from the grassroots health action
group have contacts they should put them in here. We have a run down and unworkable system
which is not dealing with issues as they arise. Donegal is also effected and they have a sitting woman TD
from the town, these women will have to travel to access breast cancer care too. The policy
of centres of excellence is limited to Dublin , the midlands and the south.
Sligo.
Letrim.
Donegal.
Cavan-Monaghan
Mayo.
Galway North.
are all effected, with a complete run down in the maternity units there too.
[btw jimmy devins asked for the new cancer tsar to attend the mammography and surgical unit in
Sligo and perform an audit, this could take weeks and he was rightly booed and heckled].
This is not women's Health-care, it is the maintenance of a two tier system that does not respond in any
wise to the basic health care need of community.
Its good to see the RWers on P.ie putting the boot into the protest for the retention of Cancer services in Sligo
The Canadian Health service is being used by the PDs as an example where population density can validate closure of hospitals. The irony of comparing the Irish Health Service to the Canadian one is obviously lost on these clowns
http://www.politics.ie/viewtopic.php?t=28754
I think you are right Gerry Mac FF have sacrificed Jimmy Devins he did try and fool the people of the North West who elected him . We thought when we got a Junior Minister of Health we would have a voice for the poeple of the North West that dosen't seem to be the case Jimmy Devins has gone into hiding along with the other FF members on Sligo Borough Council and County Council. !
There hasn't been any announcement or statement from jimmy Devins since the announcement on Ocean Fm that we are to loose our cancer services before the end of the year. ! why elect these people if they are not going to be heard of again we need people to speak on our behalf not silent puppets. !
I wonder what politions if any will attend the candle lit vigil at Sligo General hospital or will they still be in America at the expense of the taxpayers . ! Does anyone know if there was many polititons at the save our cancer meetings last Tuesday night . ! Labour havent attended any meetings of the save our cancer meetings then again they haven't attended any meetings of the sligo racecourse either l suppose that's to be expected from labour they didn't back the residents of save our fairgreen campaign either . I think Labour in Sligo has lost the plot since Declan Bree resigned .
I think we have lost our cancer services and that Jimmy Devins has known this all along we were going to lose them he used all these audits and visits as a smoke screen to take the attention away from self and the reason he has stayed so quiet on the matter .
FF, PD's and the Green Party are the government in power Brian Scanlon has to support his partie's stance in relation to cut backs in Sligo General Hospital yes just a coupld of months ago he said he was seriously think about resigning from the Grenn Party if we lost these services. As it is he has never went along to any of the save our cancer meetings yet he is trying to jump on the bandwagon now its to little to late as far as l am concerned .
I listened with dismay to Eamon Scanlon on Ocean the other morning in relation to the statement by Geraldine Feeney in the Sligo Champion he denied he had read the article l am sure as a TD who went along to that meeting he would have been well aware of what the statement said also he would have been inundated with phone calls about the statement he is kidding nobody we the people who voted them in are not fools never again will l vote FF .
i think that people should boycott the FF church gate collections on Sunday after the way they sold out the people of the North West it was sickening to here them on the radio all week we the people will remember this next year in the local elections l for one will never vote FF again or any members of my family l am totally disgusted with them .
I have attended the cancer campaign meetings from the start and the same cllr's are there every week Arthur Gibbons, Declan Bree , David Cawley and Sean Mc Manus even this week 31 invites went out to Cllr's and Td's and yet not one of them could be bothered to turn up l think FF have known all along what was going to happen Fair Do's to the 4 Cllr's that have attended all the meetings and shame on the cowards who have stayed away from the start.
At Tuesday nights meeting of save our cancer campaign in Sligo not one FF Cll'r or Td bothered to attend , l think FF and Jimmy Devins have known all along that we were going to lose these services and that is why there was such non attendance at these meetings they moved jimmy Devins to a different position just before they announced this they are fooling nobody they will come knocking on doors soon enough for the local elections and we can tell them to get lost l will never vote FF again .
I know Arthur Gibbons and Declan Bree attend those meetings all the time but are you sure Sean MacManus attends them all? I dont think so
Tricky Dicky is right l attend the meetings David Cawley has only attended a handful off meetings and Sean mc manus has only been to one or two Arthur Gibbons and Declan Bree has attened a few not them all . I think Arthur Gibbons is the only Cllr that has attended everyone of them . !
Everyone in Sligo thought since the save our cancer services campaign that it was being fronted by Fg even FG was so naive to think that they controlled this whole campaign but the real hereo's lurking in the background and not looking for any recognition was FF and this was proven in the Sligo champion dated 14/5/2008 when Geraldine Feeney announced that the campaign was at an end this proves that they were the ones who controlled this seeminly none political campaign well done FF for pulling a blinder. And the leadership you showed in this campaign .
Who does Brian Scanlon think he is fooling with his stance on the save our cancer services Sligo general hospital does he think the people of Sligo are total gonbeems FF and the Green Party along with the Pd's are fully responsible for the loss of these vital services at Sligo general hospital yet we have this ejet trying to convince people that he is having numerous meeting's with John Gormly the leader of the Green Party or maybe its the yellow party who sold their soul to get into government to have this decision changed . Brian not even an elected representative expects that his party is going to listen to him when they won't even listen to their own promenint members in relation to issues such as Shannon and the hills of Tara why has no member of any other party challenged him in relation to his daft statements about his uturn party or maybe they just feel sorry for him and they don't feel its worth their while, let the poor fool rant and rave.
Proffessor Keane is on Ocean Fm on Monday morning l gurantee he has been made go on by FF it is a disgrace that its only now he can come on he hasn't even been to Sligo to visit the oncology unit but he can come on Ocean to try and cover up for FF . !
People should phone Ocean and text them Monday morning and vent their anger on FF the Pd's and Green party. !
I think that the people of the north west have totally been sold out by FF the local elections are only next year l for one will never vote FF again neither will any of my family members that's 6 votes lost in our house . I wouldn't like to be a FF candidate knocking on people's doors next year. !
It is beneath contempt every hospital should have cancer diagnostic cand treatment facilites centre of excellance is a bogus byword for downsizing and centralisation when the co located hospitals are built the services will be reintroduced for private paying patients and those that have private health insurance .
Heard Brian Scanlon on the radio this morning it seems he is not better than FF he said on Ocean a few months ago that he would clearly have to rethink being in the green party if they didn't vote to save our cancer services sligo now he is saying different he seems to have done a total Uturn and sold his soul to get into power with FF , l wouldn't like to be him canvassing next year for the local elections. !
I heard on the radio that its still the same Cllr's that attend the save our cancer meeting s every week Arthur Gibbons, Declan Bree , Barry O'Neil and Imelda Henry its a disgrace to think of all the elected reps and td's we have in the North West yet we only see the dame faces every week . !
You have to admire Arthur Gibbons he has attended every save our cancer services meeting in Sligo yet he has stayed in the background even when he attended Dublin and the Dail last week he stayed in the background doing the work not like Imelda Henry Henry and John Perry and the rest of Fg who always have to be seen out the front of every march or protest. Keep up the good work Arthur.