Galway Bay fm newsroom - A Galway-Roscommon Minister says it's unacceptable that the Government plans to leave the West of Ireland with no major trauma centre.
It's as the Government plans to streamline current arrangements for treating patients severely injuried in incidents such as car crashes and violent attacks.
Health Minister Simon Harris wants the state divided into two trauma networks, comprising two major centres and a series of smaller units.
Under the prosposals, the two major centres serving the entire country would be located in Dublin and in Cork.
It's argued that concentrating critical trauma cases in centres which contain specialist infrastructure and deal with consistent high volume would lead to better outcomes for patients.
It is suggested that one of the smaller trauma units would be retained at UHG - however, this would not offer a full range of services.
Galway Roscommon Fine Gael Minister Denis Naughten says the new trauma policy fails to recognise the unique population dispersal of the country.
He also argues that any reconfigurations should be put on hold until improvements to the current air ambulance services are put in place.
Minister Naughten says the Programme for Goverment pledged to progress the night-time operation of air ambulance services and expand it from a single aircraft - but to date, little has been done.
