Assurances given over emergency closures

THE Health Minister has given a commitment that overnight emergency services will not be withdrawn from the Mid-Western Regional Hospital, Limerick next month.

It had been feared that emergency department services would be curtailed from July 11, the date when doctors are rotated between posts as part of their training.
In a meeting with local TDs on Tuesday, Dr James Reilly said services would be preserved and that nothing would be done to compromise the integrity of the service.
The HSE said measures are to be put in place to fast-track the recruitment of non-consultant doctors, to prevent a situation where Clare patients would have to travel to Galway for overnight emergency care. If junior doctors cannot be recruited, it is planning to move doctors from other parts of the hospital.
Councillor Brian Meaney claimed that any night-time closure of the emergency department would cause “civil unrest”.
Members of the HSE West Forum were told at a meeting in Galway on Tuesday that Limerick is currently short 30 junior doctors out a total complement of 206, ahead of the forthcoming rotation of non-consultant hospital doctors on July 11.
Councillors said considerable confusion and alarm had been caused over the future of the unit by recent media reports.
The emergency department in Limerick is staffed by 21 medical staff with 16 junior doctors and five consultants. However, this department could be without four senior house officers and three registrars on July 11 unless they are recruited over the coming weeks. 
HSE West Regional ­Director, John Hennessy, repeated assurances that no decision has been taken to close or curtail ­emergency services in Limerick.
“Closing the emergency department is not a realistic option.
“It is true that we have difficulties in recruiting a sufficient number of non-consultant hospital doctors but recruitment is ongoing. In the event of not getting sufficient staff for July, our first option then would be to move doctors from other parts of the hospital.
“Every effort is being made to recruit ­doctors and this remains an evolving situation.
“We are working closely with the Minister for Health, the Department of Health and the Medical Council to find solutions,” he said.
Expressing dissatisfaction with verbal assurances, Councillor Brian Meaney said he wanted a commitment in writing that emergency services would never be removed in the short or long term, while Councillor Pascal Fitzgerald warned any reduction of emergency services would put lives at risk.
“People need to be assured that when they go to their emergency department in Limerick at night, it will still be open,” he said.
The Irish Association for Emergency Medicine has highlighted the lack of registrars who contribute to essential senior decision-making on a 24-hour basis.
In addition to the immediate clinical risk to patients, the loss of experienced middle-grade doctors in ­emergency departments has implications for the future training and recruitment of consultants across the country.
It urged the HSE to improve current recruitment processes and actively work with the Medical Council to speed up the time consuming process of obtaining medical registration in Ireland.