The services at the emergency department of the Roscommon County Hospital have fallen below the standards. The Minister for Health, James Reilly, told the Dáil yesterday that the emergency department service which is currently being provided to the patients in the hospital is not safe.

He said that he wanted to replace the service with it urgent care centre, where the patients will be treated from 8am to 8pm by hospital doctors and other than these hours provided by GPs. He further added that it would be a highly irresponsible act to continue running the emergency department.

A Senior Consultant at Roscommon County Hospital, Dr. Patrick McHugh, has described the conditions of the hospital's emergency department as poor. The main reason behind the poor services at the emergency departments is lack of junior doctors. There are 254 vacancies for junior hospital doctors nationally, but only 221 posts are filled.

Dr. McHugh said the appointment of new consultants at the hospital would be sufficient to improve the standards of the emergency department. He also mentioned that the hospital is facing lack of funds.