Home found for x-ray machine

A LONG and shameful saga came to an end last week when it was announced that a costly and unused x-ray machine, lying idle in Ballymun since 2006, will finally be put to use.

The x-ray machine bought at an expense to the taxpayer of

?¬500,000 has been lying idle in Ballymun Primary Health Centre for the last six years as the HSE couldn’t afford to pay the staff to operate it.

The machine will now be relocated less than two miles away to Beaumont Hospital, in a move estimated to cost

?¬85,000 to complete.

Northside People first highlighted the farce last year and in early July this newspaper was informed that it would be too expensive to move the x-ray machine somewhere it could be used.

The cost of moving the x-ray machine, we were told, would be

“substantial

? costing in the region of

?¬85,000.

However, common sense has prevailed and it’s now seen as a price worth paying to operate the high-tech machine for the benefit patients for years to come.

Local TD and Minister of State, Róisín Shortall (Lab) welcomed a positive conclusion to situation.

“This was one of the first issues I raised when I came into the Department of Health and I am glad that a solution has now been found to put this equipment to good use,

? she stated.

“Moving the facility to Beaumont Hospital will allow patients gain the maximum benefit from the X-ray machine.

“It will benefit in-patients and people living in the hospital’s catchment area, including in Dublin North West.

“The X-ray machine will allow for the direct digital transfer of X-ray images from the X-ray room to the patient’s doctor, making it easier for patients and medical staff alike.

?

Minister Shortall’s intervention in the situation in the summer of 2011 saw the establishment of an assessment team comprising of the area manager for north Dublin city and the national clinical leads for primary care and emergency medicine to explore evidence-based options for the use of the X-ray machine.

Two months ago Minister Shortall stated that the costs associated with moving and installing it in the current climate would be

“prohibitive

?.

Fortunately, that situation has changed.

The x-ray machine was installed in the Ballymun Primary Health Centre, which cost

?¬56 million to build and a further

?¬9 million to fit out.

The centre was opened with the intention of reducing the need for local people to go to hospital for diagnosis and certain treatments.

The facility, which was designed as a

‘centre of excellence’ with primary functions of physiotherapy and x-ray, didn’t have a radiographer or the additional staff required to operate the expensive radiology machine.