Nenagh Injury Unit continues to treat more patients

The Injury Unit at Nenagh hospital is one of 11 Injury Units now in place across the country.

It is open seven days a week from  8am to 8pm and can treat patients aged 5 and over for a wide variety of injuries such as broken bones, dislocations, sprains ,strains, and minor burns.

Last year over 8,000 patients attended Nenagh Injury Unit and this year the number of patients treated has continued to increase with the latest available data showing almost 7,500 patients were treated in the unit by the end of October.

Dr Damien Ryan, Consultant in Emergency Medicine, Nenagh Injury Unit said: “Last year in excess of 8,000 patients attended Nenagh Injury Unit for a wide variety of injuries and we know from feedback received that patients generally have a very positive experience. We really want to make sure that everyone knows just what our Injury Unit does and the efficient and high quality care patients will receive when they attend.”

UL Hospitals Group is appealing to people in the Mid-West to consider all their treatment options at this busy time of year, including the Injury Units at Ennis, Nenagh and St John’s hospitals. Patients with appropriate injuries can in many cases be treated for injuries far faster than in the Emergency Department at UHL.

Injury Units can treat patients with broken bones, dislocations, sprains, strains, wounds, scalds and minor burns that are unlikely to need overnight admission to hospital. Staff members take x-rays, reduce joint dislocations, apply plaster casts and treat wounds by stitches or other means. They provide swift access to tests and x-rays and some have rapid access to physiotherapy services. They are staffed by Consultant-led teams of doctors, advanced nurse practitioners, nurses, radiographers and physiotherapists. Patients can go directly to the unit or be referred by a GP.

Dr Gerry McCarthy, Consultant in Emergency Medicine, and Clinical Lead of the National Emergency Medicine Programme, said: “Many Injury Units are reporting fast turnaround times for seeing and treating patients. In many cases the average time reported is between 1 and 2 hours and sometimes less so. Patients can save themselves long waiting times by attending injury units instead of EDs when it is appropriate to do so.”

Explaining that each unit is linked to a hub Emergency Department in an acute hospital, Dr McCarthy added: “If a patient in an injury unit needs to be admitted to hospital they will be referred directly to a linked hospital in exactly the same way as if they had attended the hub Emergency Department. Our units provide the same level of expertise and service as Emergency Departments for the appropriate group of patients but they are not designed to treat serious head, back or neck injuries, abdominal (stomach) pain, medical illnesses or mental health problems. 

“They do not treat children under the age of 5 because of the special requirements of young children attending hospital, with some having a higher age threshold.”

There are 11 of these units across the country including three in the Mid-West in Ennis, Nenagh and St John's in Limerick. All have had consistently good feedback and reaction from the patients they treat. There is no charge for patients with full medical cards or those patients with valid medical/GP referral letter.
 
For more information visit www.hse.ie/injuryunits