Call for review into acute regional hospitals

CONFUSION over services remaining in Mid-Western Regional Hospital, Ennis following the centralisation of acute in-patient cardiology services to the Mid-Western Regional Hospital, Limerick next February has prompted calls for an independent review of acute hospitals in the region.

While Clare TDs have presented a different analysis about the level of acute cardiac services in Ennis hospital over the coming months, all four agree an outside review conducted by an agency such as the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) is needed to ascertain the effectiveness of the reconfiguration of acute hospital services.
Around-the-clock emergency department cover was removed from Ennis and Nenagh hospitals in April 2009 following the publication of the independent Teamwork Report in January 2009 and the HIQA Report following a number of cancer misdiagnosis cases.
The call for an independent review of the implementation of recent and future changes is supported by the Irish Nurses and Midwives Association (INMO), which has written to HIQA requesting the agency to implement one of the key recommendations in its own report following its investigation into the standards and safety of patient care at Ennis hospital. This recommendation called for a comprehensive review of acute services at the Mid-Western Regional Hospital, Limerick.
INMO Mid-West representative Mary Fogarty told The Clare Champion the union is still waiting for a response from HIQA, despite writing to the body on two occasions. The union, she said, had also highlighted a number of clinical issues at the Limerick hospital, which it would like to have examined.
A HIQA spokesperson said, “The authority continues to engage with the HSE on the implementation of the national recommendations made in the report of the investigation into the quality and safety of services and supporting arrangements provided by the HSE at the Mid-Western Regional Hospital, Ennis. These recommendations form part of the terms of reference for the investigation into Mallow General Hospital.”
Deputy Joe Carey has called for an independent review to determine if  Health Minister Mary Harney and the HSE have stuck to the parameters of the capital works programme, resources and service provision in both Ennis and Limerick hospitals, as part of the Teamwork Report. Deputy Carey said that at the launch of the HIQA report, Dr Alan McKinney, a member of the HIQA Ennis investigation team, stated, “Before transferring a hospital service, it must be ensured, there is a safer, better alternative available. There is no point making things worse than they are now.”
However, Deputy Carey claimed the reality was hospital services were being closed on the cheap without adequate resources being provided in the major centres or so called centres of excellence.
“On a regular basis, up to 50 patients can be found on trolleys. Why do patients have to wait months at a time for MRI scans? Where is the better cardiac service in Limerick? Is there a 24-hour emergence CAT-lab service in Limerick Regional Hospital? No there isn’t. Why strip our service in Clare and replace it with nothing?” he asked.
Deputy Pat Breen said it was very easy to forget the promises of a €39m investment made by former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern when he breezed into Clare during the 2007 General Election campaign. “What happened the other €25m? Did it disappear into a black hole?
Defence Minister Tony Killeen confirmed he supported the proposed use of HIQA to conduct an independent review and went even further to suggest that ongoing regular reviews of acute hospital services in the Mid-West were necessary and beneficial.
He was supported by Deputy Timmy Dooley, who pointed out a number of cases involving hospitals throughout the country had shown that the standard of patient care didn’t always meet best international practice. He said it was important for any health service to constantly evaluate what it was doing to ensure any changes were resulting in the best patient outcomes.