Independent Deputy Michael Healy Rae has said that he is disappointed and concerned that yet another medical service has been relocated away from University Hospital Kerry (UHK) with confirmation that Histopathology service will now be carried out at Cork University Hospital (CUH)
UHK Services Being Eroded
“Over the years vital services which have been carried out at UHK as it is now known, or Kerry General as it was known to more, are being eroded away in favour of relocating them to bigger hospitals,” said Deputy Healy Rae.
“With the loss now of the Histopathology service just another step along the road to downgrading our great hospital. I am very concerned that this is another service gone out of UHK and I do not agree with this,” he said.
Suspicious Lumps And Bumps
“Histopathologists provide a diagnostic service for cancer; they handle the cells and tissues removed from suspicious ‘lumps and bumps’, identify the nature of the abnormality and, if malignant, provide information to the clinician about the type of cancer, its grade and, for some cancers, its responsiveness to certain treatments.
More Services Moving to Cork
In a written reply from Jerry O ’Dwyer CEO South/South West Hospital Group following a request made to the Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly by Michael Healy Rae T.D, it was confirmed that rather than the historic and unsustainable reliance on a standalone practitioner that consultant histopathology services for UHK are currently being consolidated with a view to delivering a specialist service from CUH.
Death By A Thousand Cuts
Deputy Michael Healy Rae said he did not question the integrity of the CUH service but did question what the future of UHK would be if it continues to lose services.
He has called on the Government including its many local representatives in Kerry to stand up for University Hospital Kerry and call out the current practice of ‘death by a thousand cuts.’
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