Dear Ms. Coughlan,
I hereby urge you as Minister for Health not to carry out any further downgrading of Ennis General Hospital. The current proposal to close the Accident and Emergency facility and replace it with a nurse- only led Minor Injuries Clinic clearly puts the lives of the 107, 000 inhabitants of Clare at risk and denies them equitable access to a health service.
According to Article 21 (b) of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights “Everyone has the right of equal access to public services in his/her country”. The proposed downgrading of Ennis General Hospital deprives the people of Clare, especially those in more isolated areas, of the fundamental right and ‘public service’ that is emergency health care. If the suggested A&E closure occurs a resident of West Clare will have to drive for an hour and a half to Limerick for A&E services.
Bearing this in mind I am sure that you can appreciate that the withdrawal of A&E services from Ennis would be a retrograde step for our county’s society and discriminative to its’ people.