Nine month wait for physiotherapy at Mayo General

’My information is that the acute waiting list for physiotherapy services at Mayo General Hospital is between four and five weeks but the sub-acute list is nine months and that is far too long for anyone to have to wait for treatment. By its nature, physiotherapy is most effective when intervention is early and injuries can become chronic if left too late for treatment.

‘’If there is a need for more physio’s to be appointed at Mayo General then the HSE should go ahead and do that. I know of qualified physios who are unemployed and that doesn’t make sense when at the same time there are waiting lists of nearly one year in our hospitals,’’ he said.

The HSE told Deputy O’Mahony that they were examining the situation at the hospital to see how it could be improved but that the increased waiting list was based on demands for the physiotherapy service including the high level of demand from the orthopaedic service.
Physiotherapy staffing at Mayo General is as follows: Inpatient services: 2 Senior and 7 staff physiotherapists. Outpatients (including Orthopaedic
trauma clinics and Swinford Outpatient service) 3 Senior and 2.5 staff
physiotherapists. In addition, there is a Physiotherapy Services Manager and a Practice Tutor X .75 for the student placements
employed at the hospital.

O’Mahony welcomes possible return of physiotherapy service to Claremorris

The HSE outlined the background to Deputy O’Mahony of the set of circumstances, which led to the withdrawal of the D’Alton Home services. As part of an out-reach service from the Sacred Heart Home to the Dalton C.N.U, outpatient physiotherapy was provided to people in the Claremorris catchment area. This service was withdrawn earlier this year when the physiotherapist
providing the service transferred back to the Sacred Heart hospital. As a
result, all GP referrals are being directed to the GP- funded service in Mayo General Hospital.
A Senior Physiotherapy post was allocated via Claremorris Primary Care in
2006. Interviews were held but the Physiotherapist to whom the post was offered declined to accept. This post was re-advertised 3 weeks ago and interviews will possibly be taking place in August.
If there is a successful appointment of a Senior person, Mayo PCCC will
then be in a position to offer Outpatient Physiotherapy services to people in the Claremorris Primary Care Area including those
attending day care in the D’Alton CNU.

‘’The service was greatly valued when it was available in Claremorris and its withdrawal affected quite a number of people. Hopefully, there will be an appointment next month and the situation can return to normal,’’ said Deputy O’Mahony.

O’Mahony welcomes Charlestown jobs boost

Mayo Fine Gael TD John O’Mahony has described the decision to locate the headquarters of the Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs in Charlestown as a ‘hugely significant boost for the east Mayo town’.

The announcement by Minister Éamon Ó Cuív comes in the same week that Deputy O’Mahony again highlighted the need for the decentralisation project for East Mayo to proceed, given the need for new employment in the region.

”I’m delighted with this news and I very much welcome it. When the plan to locate the Department at Knock Airport was shot down it was a huge blow to the area, but this new development has given the whole area a huge fillip. A total of 140 people will be employed there when fully operational, and that is fantastic news in an area where there is such a dire need for jobs.

“This announcement, in addition to the planning application sought by Ireland West Airport to further develop its facilities, has capped a great week for the East Mayo community.

“Ireland West Airport is planning even more investment in its facility with the planning application for a major development lodged this week. That news, in conjunction with the news that a Government department will be based in Charlestown, makes it one of the best weeks for some time in the area.”

Plan to close Ballina District Court office will be opposed

‘’My understanding is that the Courts Service are proposing to centralise the District Courts offices within Mayo and to base them out of Castlebar. I can assure the staff that work there and the people that use the Ballina service on a daily basis that I will be contacting both the Minister for Justice and the Courts Service. ‘’Apart from the obvious impact on the staff that work in the office, the court users such as solicitors, gardai, probation service and social workers will all be inconvenienced by having to travel to Castlebar to do their business. Family law orders are processed in the Ballina office whereby maintenance is paid in and collected from there and if the office is closed, those people will have to travel to Castlebar,’’ he said. Ballina District Court is the busiest court in the county and in the last few years, smaller courts such as Foxford, Crossmolina and Killala have all been closed and merged with Ballina. The office serves the communities of Ballina, Swinford, Ballycroy and Belmullet. ‘’It’s a huge geographical area and for the Courts Service to be now thinking of closing the Ballina office just doesn’t make any sense. Indeed, it flies in the face of the policy of decentralisation that we hear so much about and is in stark contrast to the policy of Mayo County Council whose services are being constantly decentralised. It’s ironic that one arm of officialdom is spreading out while another arm is contracting inwards. If this is allowed to happen it will be another blow for the town and its people and it cannot be allowed to happen,’’ he said.

Knock decentralisation still an option – O’Mahony

’I raised this issue in the Dail before the recess and again afterwards when I wrote to the Minister. He has told me that he aims to get the project back on track as soon as possible and that his view is that the headquarters will be located at the airport or very close to it.

‘’I welcome his commitment to the project because it is absolutely essential that this goes ahead in East Mayo. This is an area that is crying out for extra employment and the community had been looking forward to the boost that the region would receive from the new jobs that were going to be created at the Airport.

‘’Needless to say, people were extremely disappointed at the decision of An Bord Pleanala but they will also be very encouraged to know that the project should still get the green light,’’ he said.

Deputy O’Mahony assures people in the region will continue to  pressurise the Minister to deliver this project to East Mayo.

O’Mahony welcomes new civic offices for Clarermorris

‘’It’s great news for Claremorris,’’ said Deputy O’Mahony. ‘’At the moment there are two county council offices in the town providing different services. The new building will amalgamate these services and make it easier for customers to do their business,’’ he said.

Post box agreed for Murneen

’It was sad to see the local Post Office close down earlier in the year and the end result for local people was that they had to sit in their cars and drive to Claremorris to conduct their business. I contacted An Post to see could they locate a box there and I was delighted to be told last week that they had agreed to do so. I’m not saying it’s the perfect solution to not having a Post Office but it will ease a lot of problems for local people,’’ he said.

O’Mahony welcomes speedy response to bridge collapse

Fine Gael National Press Office Press Release

…………………………………………………………

Leinster House Contact: John O’Mahony TD Dublin 2 Anne Talbot Mayo Ireland 01 6184076/087 2912215

Thursday 19th July 2007

O’Mahony welcomes speedy response to bridge collapse

Fine Gael TD for Mayo, John O’Mahony, has today (Thursday) welcomed the speedy emergency response in which local authorities have begun building a temporary bridge in Leenane, Co.Galway, following the collapse of the village’s century- old bridge in a landslide and flash flood yesterday evening. “The bridge, which is on the main N59 link road between Connemara and Westport, carried up to 4,000 vehicles a day, including almost all of the area’s tourist traffic. It was a link for motorists between counties Galway and Mayo. “Senior Engineers have said they hope to have the temporary bridge, capable of carrying light traffic, in place in two weeks. Until then thousands of local people and tourists will have to make huge diversions of up to 100km around and away from the village. “This is peak season in the region where traffic is at a maximum. With the adverse weather already hampering the tourist season, it is vital that the damage caused by the bridge collapse dose not further impact on the local economy in the west.”

O’Mahony wants technology used in fight against drugs

’Everything that can be done should be done to prevent those drugs being imported into our country. They cause untold damage to individuals, families and ultimately society so we have to be extra vigilant. The detection in Cork owed a lot to weather conditions and it proved that no matter how active the defence forces are along the coastline, drugs can still be imported into the country. Who’s to say that those same people won’t now target the western coastline to try and get their drugs into the country? It’s something we can’t ignore and we should be using technology in the fight against those people,’’ he said.

Foxford school extension tied up in red tape – O’Mahony

’Basically, it’s red tape that’s holding this much needed extension and refurbishment back but the pupils, parents and staff at St Joseph’s can be assured that I’ll continue to raise this issue in the Dail until I’m satisfied with what I am hearing from the Minister,’’ said Deputy O’Mahony.

Minister Hanafin told Deputy O’Mahony that an assessment of projected enrolments, demographic trends and housing developments in the area will be required to be carried out by the Department in order to assist in determining the long-term projected enrolment for the school on which the school’s long-term accommodation will be based. When the long-term projected enrolment has been finalised and agreed with the school authorities the Department will draw up schedules of accommodation for the project, which will then be notified, to the school management authority. The project will then be considered in the context of the multi-annual School Building and Modernisation Programme.

However, Deputy O’Mahony was not impressed. ‘’The need for the extra accommodation is next September and not at the end of a drawn out process which will basically tell us exactly what we know now. It’s red tape such as this that really frustrates people but I can assure everyone that I will continue to raise this issue until we get some real action on it,’’ he said.

Next Page »