Hands Off Respite Care In Cherryorchard Hospital

By Councillor Brid Smith – People Before Profit Alliance

Respite care in Cherryorchard Hospital is still under threat. Management kept the Beech unit open but have started to move patients out of other wards. They have tried to divide and conquer this community. If they get away with this we will lose the wards forever in Cherryorchard.

The horrific report on Leas Cross shows that elderly people don’t get proper care in private nursing homes. Families in our community are stressed out with worry about their loved ones. Farming old people out to private nursing homes is wrong and it wont save money. We want to keep every bed in our local community hospital

WHERE DOES OUR MONEY GO?

The HSE has a Budget of around €16 billion.

Hospital Consultants and advisors will be paid €90 million this year alone

• The head of the HSE Professor Drumm earns a basic salary of €369,173, plus allowances and bonuses which gives a total salary of €464,173

• Professor Drumm’s personal press adviser was paid €275,130 in 2007

• The top 25 executives in HSE earned in excess of €3,5 million in salary and bonuses in one year.

What would it cost to save Respite care at Cherry Orchard Hospital

Management say they need another 7 nurses and 5 care assistants.

A Staff Nurse earns €39,000 a year at the top of the scale. Care Assistants earn between €20,000 and €30,000 a year.

So taking the top of the scales above and employing the staff for the summer would cost just €120,750

We wont sit back and allow them treat our elderly parents and loved ones like economic units. An Bord Snip Nua wants billions cut from public spending instead of taxing the super rich who don’t pay their fair share. We have to stand up together as a community and fight for those who cannot fight for themselves.

We can stop the closure of beds and force the HSE to employ more care workers, take people off the dole and keep our loved ones in Cherryorchard.

People Power is the only message they will listen to – they have ignored our petitions and our politicians. We need to get onto the streets in our thousands – next Friday 24th July – and are calling on all our communities to get behind this campaign and STOP THE CUTS TO RESPITE CARE.