Denis Naughten today (Monday) reiterated Fine Gael’s commitment on the future of small hospitals when interviewed on RTE1’s ‘Campaign Daily’.

He confirmed that Fine Gael is committed to both retaining and developing services in small hospitals such as Portiuncula and Roscommon Hospitals

“Under our proposals the future of services at Portiuncula Hospital will be determined locally. This will see a reversal of what happened at the hospital when it was bought out by the Western Health Board.

“We want to have a local board appointed by staff, patients and the community to run the hospital in conjunction with local management and not have it run by faceless bureaucrats within the HSE,” stated Denis Naughten.

“Fine Gael has set out a clear alternative to the reconfiguration proposed by the HSE as a direct result of Fianna Fail policy. The future of Portiuncula Hospital is secure under Fine Gael.

“Fine Gael is the only party with a plan to reform the health service as a whole. A vote for Fine Gael is a vote for Portiuncula Hospital,” concluded Denis Naughten.