Guarded welcome for proposed second ED
‘Time for reports and reviews is over’ - Nenagh hospital group
Nenagh Needs its A&E has given a guarded welcome to the Taoiseach's call for ‘openness’ to a proposal for a second emergency department in the Mid West.
The Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) is due to deliver the findings of a review to consider a second ED, which would alleviate pressure on University Hospital Limerick. Speaking to reporters at the weekend, Taoiseach Simon Harris did not rule out such a move.
“I think when it comes to the Mid West, we should have an openness to a second emergency department if that is the outcome of the HIQA review,” Mr Harris said. “There is absolutely a need for more bed capacity in the Mid West.”
In a statement, the Nenagh Needs Its A&E group - which has been campaigning for the reopening of the three Mid West emergency departments that were closed in 2009 - welcomed the Taoiseach's comments.
“But we find them confusing,” the group's statement added. “Under his tenure as Minister for Health between 2016 and 2020, the situation at UHL deteriorated to critical levels, yet he showed no interest in hearing the concerns of the people of the Mid West as we begged for a reprieve, as we begged for reform.
“We also note that the language of the Taoiseach's comments demonstrates absolutely no urgency in addressing the perma-crisis that has engulfed hospital care across the Mid West for 15 years. He talks about awaiting the results of the latest HIQA review into UHL. He promises the Government will act on any recommendations ‘without fear or favour’. We wonder why we should accept or believe this assurance when the Government and HSE have ignored previous HIQA recommendations.”
RECONFIGURATION DISASTER
“Nenagh Needs Its A&E and the Midwest Hospital Campaign, and the people who have long-suffered at the hands of the failed 2009 hospitals reconfiguration disaster, need no further reviews or reports. Our campaign remains of the view that the EDs should and must re-open at Nenagh, Ennis and St John's.
“We accept that this cannot happen all at once, so one re-opening will certainly unplug some of the pressure at UHL. Our communities have shed enough blood at the hands of failed politics, ‘clinical advice’, and bureaucracy. The time for reports and reviews is over,” the Nenagh Needs Its A&E statement concluded. “It's time now to do.”
Meanwhile, Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly has said the full return of planned services at Nenagh and all the other hospitals in the Mid West is still some weeks off. Last week saw the deferral of inpatient, day surgery, outpatient appointments and some other scheduled services until further notice due to high volumes of ED patients at UHL.
“There will be a phased recommencement of those services,” Minister Donnelly told RTÉ News. “I expect that phasing to begin in about a week and I expect a full re-phasing to take a short number of weeks.”
Minister Donnelly described the deferrals as a “planned patient safety measure” in order for new working practices to be implemented.