Anger as post-mortems are moved to Tullamore

There have been angry reactions this week to a decision by the Health Service Executive to re-locate post-mortem facilities in Mullingar to the Midland Regional Hospital at Tullamore.As reported by the Westmeath Examiner in April of this year, the HSE planned to move PM facilities to Tullamore in the future due to facilities in Mullingar not being in line with “required standards”.The ire of local undertakers was raised when only last week, they found out that since October 1, the transfer of facilities to Tullamore had already taken place.On October 11 - ten days after the transfer of services - Joe Martin, the HSE’s General Manager of Acute Hospital Services, contacted funeral directors to clarify some issues relating to the transfer of post-mortem facilities.“The fact that the HSE made a decision on this on October 1 without notifying funeral directors is a thundering disgrace,” Castlepollard undertaker, Micheal Cassidy said this week. “The person who did not give prior notice to undertakers should resign.“There is no room within the HSE for more mistakes to be made, and a serious mistake has been made.”Mr. Cassidy said that he questioned any decision to move PM facilities to Tullamore in the first place.He praised staff at the General Hospital Mortuary in Mullingar.“At no point were we made aware by the HSE as to how the facilities at Mullingar were not up to scratch,” he continued.“It’s not just a piece of furniture you can move from here to there.This creates extra cost in terms of time and money for undertakers, but at the end of the day it’s not the HSE or the undertakers which are important.“It’s the bereaved who suffer, and it’s falling back on them. They’re having to cope with an unnecessary situation.”Labour TD for Longford-Westmeath, Willie Penrose, described the re-location of post-mortem facilities as “another sneaky decision”.“It’s another erosion and diminution of services for the people of Mullingar, with all such services by fortuitous planning, finding themselves re-located to Tullamore,” said Deputy Penrose.“This decision was taken without the undertakers in Longford or Westmeath being notified, and there was no discussion or recourse to them in relation thereto.“I have been informed by undertakers that the post mortem facilities available in Mullingar were of the highest quality and standard, and the staff involved provided the highest level of co-operation at all times.“The removal of these facilities from Mullingar, will impose a further cost burden upon people at the most difficult times in their lives, and will necessitate further administrative undertakings and contacts for the undertakers involved,” Deputy Penrose concluded.