Ennis CT scanner services suspended

CT services at the Mid-West Regional Hospital have been suspended in the short term while the Health Service Executive recruits for a temporary consultant radiologist to fill the vacancy.
However, acting network manager John Hennessy has emphasised that the suspension of the Ennis service was done in the best interests of patient safety and will only last until suitable replacements are available.
“An active recruitment campaign is underway at national and international level against a background of a shortage of qualified specialists for a temporary consultant radiologist, pending the permanent appointment of consultant radiologists in early November.
“Meanwhile, patients from County Clare who require CT scans are being accommodated in Limerick with minimal, if any, increase in waiting times,” Mr Hennessy said.
He also disclosed that as a further support to radiology in general and CT scanning, the Mid Western Regional Hospital, Ennis has been identified as a pilot site in the roll-out, during the first quarter of 2010, of the PACs IT system. This will allow remote consultation with specialist colleagues, including those in tertiary referral centres, and also the reporting of X-Rays and CT scans in other centres.
This development came to light after Deputy Pat Breen implored the Minister for Health and Children, Mary Harney, by way of a parliamentary question, to restore CT facilities at the Mid-West Regional Hospital, Ennis as a matter of urgency.
“The HSE is currently recruiting for a temporary consultant radiologist to fill the vacancy which has arisen at the hospital following the departure of the temporary radiologist, who was employed in Ennis and who has moved to UK to take up a position there.
“I cannot understand how it has come to this. In 2007 I was informed that €550,000 per annum had been available by the HSE and that this included the recruitment of a consultant radiologist. Why has it taken this length of time to recruit a consultant? It is a disgrace that we are being put in this position, the money was allocated and still nobody has been appointed,” Deputy Breen said.
Deputy Breen said that he also found it hard to believe that a temporary radiologist would be recruited in the short-term with November approaching.
“Minister Harney and the HSE have let this situation arise where all CT services at Ennis General Hospital have been suspended. We waited long enough to have the service in the first place. I would urge Minister Harney and the HSE to recruit a full-time consultant radiologist and restore this essential service to Ennis General Hospital as a matter of urgency,” he added.