<\/p>\n
\n Published:
\n Sun 21 Sep 2025, 8:39 PM\n <\/p>\n
Mayo Councillor Harry Barrett has issued a stinging rebuke to the Minister for Health following her recent visit to Mayo University Hospital (MUH), where she attributed the hospital\u2019s chronic problems solely to local management.<\/p>\n
The Castlebar-based representative condemned the minister\u2019s comments as a blatant attempt to shirk her own governmental responsibilities and of a serious lack of understanding of the issues crippling healthcare provision across Mayo.<\/p>\n
He stated: \u201cFor the minister to parachute in and point the finger at local management is not just disingenuous, it is a slap to the face of dedicated staff who are fighting a daily battle to provide care under impossible conditions.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe problems in MUH and across our county are not of local management\u2019s making; they are the direct result of years of failed national policy and political neglect from her own department.\u201d<\/p>\n
Councillor Barrett highlighted a recent Connaught Telegraph article which detailed a severe shortage of nurses at MUH.<\/p>\n
He further referenced the stark warnings from respected local GP, Dr. Jerry Cowley, who has consistently outlined the exodus of doctors from the county, a situation directly stemming from cuts imposed during the financial crash that have never been reversed.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe minister has conveniently ignored these facts. She has not acknowledged that Mayo has an ageing and growing population putting unprecedented pressure on services.<\/p>\n
“She has not acknowledged the historical underinvestment in doctor recruitment. Most damningly, she has completely failed to address the collapse of primary care at the weekends.”<\/p>\n
This failure, he argued, funnels all unmet medical need into the hospital\u2019s emergency unit.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause Westdoc is stretched beyond its capacity and there are simply not enough GPs, the A&E in Castlebar becomes the only port of call for sick and elderly patients from Belmullet to Ballinrobe.<\/p>\n
“From Friday to Sunday night, entering those doors is like entering the gates of hell. It is a scene of utter chaos and human suffering, a direct result of the State\u2019s abandonment of primary care in the west.\u201d<\/p>\n
Councillor Barrett called on the people of Mayo to see the minister\u2019s comments for what they are: a political smokescreen.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe cannot be naive. We must not believe the line that this is simply a management problem. This is a fundamental failure of government to plan, to recruit, and to fund. It is a failure of the minister and her ministerial colleagues here in Mayo to do their duty for the people they represent.\u201d<\/p>\n
He concluded with a direct call to action.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am calling on the minister, and indeed her ministerial colleagues from this county, to stop the blame game and to start using the powers given to them. They fund the HSE. They call the tune.<\/p>\n
“So we need them to recruit enough doctors and nurses to staff this county properly. We need them to provide a proper, fully-resourced primary care service in Co. Mayo at the weekends so our elderly and vulnerable are not left terrified and without options. The time for excuses is over. The time for action is now,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
\n Published:
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