New era of delivery begins for hospital

The opening of the first phase of the new 50-bed unit at Ennis Hospital has been described as the start of a new era for the delivery of modern acute hospital facilities for Clare patients.

Hospital staff transferred 25 patients from St Caimin’s male medical ward to the state-of-the-art facilities in the Burren Ward. It is expected another 25 patients will be moved to the new accommodation in about six weeks.

 

Ennis hospital manager Frank Keane said patients who were previously accommodated in old nightingale wards now have the best of modern facilities at their disposal.

Mr Keane explained the new development brought accommodation facilities from the 1930s up to 2020.
He outlined more building work will be necessary to make the new wing more easily accessible.

He paid tribute to the hard work and dedication of staff in recent weeks, which had made the transfer possible.

Equipment costing an estimated €950,000 has been fitted in all the en-suite rooms. This includes vital signs monitors and other ­assessment equipment, a ceiling-mounted hoist and disability-friendly ensuite bathrooms.

The new hospital wing was completed last January and had to be fitted with modern equipment, which took a number of months to go through the public procurement process from the HSE Estates in Cork.
Male and female patients can be accommodated in the new wing, removing the requirement for segregation like the old male and female medical wards.

Clare Fine Gael TD Joe Carey said the Government has delivered on its promise to open the new ward at Ennis General Hospital.

The new facility, he said, will significantly improve the patient experience and the delivery of health care in the Mid-West and help allay some of the fears expressed in relation to the future of Ennis General Hospital.
While new wards were planned at Ennis for many years, Deputy Carey said it was significant that at a time of economic difficulty, the Government had delivered on the opening.

The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO), on behalf of its members at Ennis General Hospital, is satisfied the HSE has agreed to revise the staffing arrangements for the new wards to enable the transfer of patients and staff to this first-class modern healthcare facility.

In a statement issued to The Clare Champion, the union stated nurses at the hospital advocated at all times to the HSE, on behalf of patients, the necessity for appropriate staffing levels on every shift to ensure the provision of safe nursing care in a radically different ward environment, with all single-patient rooms.

“The transfer to the new wards is welcomed by nurses at the hospital as it will, without doubt, assist to improve the journey of patients and their families and the staff who deliver frontline care,” said the union.