Home » Tag Archives: Ennis Hospital

Tag Archives: Ennis Hospital

Day surgeries in Ennis cancelled amid lingering crisis

SIGNIFICANT reductions in scheduled care are to remain in force across UL Hospitals’ Group this week as the major internal incident declared on January 2 is stood down. According to the UL Hospitals’ Group, extraordinary measures taken across the group and in the community have helped reduced the extreme levels of overcrowding seen early last week at the Emergency Department at UHL. However, all acute hospitals in the region are operating above capacity and staff remain on high alert amid a surge of respiratory infection in the community that has not yet reached its peak. The Hospital Crisis Management Team continues to meet twice daily seven days a week. However, the major internal incident was stood down by UL Hospitals’ Group CEO Professor Colette Cowan on Monday, January 9. Day surgery at Ennis, Nenagh and St John’s Hospitals remains cancelled until the end of this week as the day wards in these hospitals have been designated as surge capacity for …

Read More »

Non-Critical Patients Are Transported Directly To Ennis Hospital

Non-critical patients can now be transferred directly by ambulance to the Medical Assessment Unit in Ennis Hospital as part of a new pilot project to ease chronic overcrowding at University Hospital Limerick. Paramedics were left with no option but to transport all Clare patients directly to UHL via ambulance following the controversial removal of 24-hour casualty cover from Ennis and Nenagh Hospitals in April 2009. The Mid-West Hospital Campaign has been informed this new emergency pathway will be accessible from Monday to Friday from 8am to 6pm Monday to Friday, excluding public holidays. The patient must meet agreed clinical criteria and has to be accepted by the MAU physician in Ennis Hospital. The Mid-West Hospital Campaign has welcomed this announcement as a “stepping stone in the right direction” towards its desired objective concerning the return of around the clock emergency cover at Ennis and Nenagh Hospitals. A spokesperson thanked all the people involved in the Friends of Ennis Hospital, “Nenagh …

Read More »

No improvement for patients in UHL, claim campaigners

HOSPITAL campaigners have claimed there is no major improvement for patients attending the Emergency Department in University Hospital Limerick (UHL), despite the HSE’s “expert intervention”. Clare members of the Mid-West Hospital Campaign participated in a protest outside Ennis Hospital on Monday to highlight the crisis in ED unit. Similar demonstrations also took place in Navan, Drogheda, Cavan, Mullingar, Limerick and Nenagh. The protesters read out some of the recent survey responses from the public following the initiative undertaken by the Mid-West Hospital Campaign. Group member, Noeleen Moran told the Clare Champion they decided to go ahead with this protest, despite subzero temperatures because there is no progress being made to address the crisis at UHL. “The Petitions Committee has not received a response from the Department of Health yet in relation to the group’s petition calling for the upgrading of casualty facilities in the region. “The HSE’s response wasn’t even aware that the Deloitte report was already published and stated …

Read More »

Ennis hospital looking for ‘welcoming’ volunteers

ENNIS hospital is looking to engage with volunteers to welcome patients and visitors to the hospital. The hospital is looking for volunteers to be an ambassador for the facility in Ennis to carry out the following: Welcome visitors to the hospital; offer assistance; assist with wayfinding to various wards, clinics, and departments; walk with hospital visitors to their location if necessary; request wheelchairs on behalf of patients. At present this is a morning service with a minimum commitment of three hours per week. If you are interested in volunteering please contact Ennis hospital on 065 6824464 or email UHLPals@hse.ie for more details.

Read More »

Temporary Closure Of Ennis Local Injury Unit

  Short-term staffing deficits have been cited for the temporary closure of the Ennis Injury Unit on Saturday, August 20th. The UL Hospitals’ Group has announced that the Local Injury Unit in Ennis Hospital will be closed for one day due to a lack of staff to operate facilities. In a statement issued to the Clare Champion, the group confirmed this service will resume as normal on Sunday, August 21st from 8am to 8pm.   The group has apologised to patients who are inconvenienced by this disruption in service. “This decision has been made to ensure patient safety, which we strive to protect at all times. No other services at Ennis Hospital are affected.   “The group are advising people who require treatment for minor injuries on Saturday to attend the Injury Units at St John’s Hospital in Limerick, or Nenagh Hospital,” said a group spokesperson.   The group is also urging people with minor injuries not to attend the Emergency …

Read More »

52% rise in attendances at Ennis Hospital MAU over two years

The number of attendances at the Medical Assessment Unit (MAU) in Ennis Hospital increased by 52% in the two years to 2021, with a further 8% increase recorded during the first five months of this year. That’s according to figures released by the HSE in response to a Parliamentary Question from Clare Independent TD Michael McNamara. Official figures show the number of attendances at the MAU in Ennis increased from 3,740 in 2019 to 5,673 in 2021. It has also emerged that average inpatient bed numbers in Ennis Hospital remained static at five. The HSE also confirmed the recent recruitment of seven new staff with additional recruitment underway in relation to allied health, general support and radiology positions at the MAU. Deputy McNamara, who has pressed the HSE and Government on the need to increase services at Ennis Hospital since the 2020 election, has welcomed the ongoing investment in services in Ennis, noting that the MAU now has capacity to …

Read More »

€3.97 Million Funding Boost For Clare health facilities

INVESTMENT totalling €3.97 million for health facilities in Clare has been included in the 2022 Health Service Executive’s Capital Plan. The funding boost includes €1.7 million for Bushy Park residential addiction treatment centre to replace their existing facility and build a brand-new complex with individual accommodation for patients. In Ennis Hospital, €0.5 million is being spent on equipping the new outpatient department. This funding will also provide for an x-ray room and other diagnostic equipment. A sum of €0.3 million will be allocated to progress the development of two new operating theatres and €0.7 million will be spent on the continued development of the hospital campus to include the fit out of vacated areas in the existing building to create a Local Injuries Unit. In East Clare, €0.35 million is being allocated to refurbish an area of Raheen Community Hospital comprising of 25 beds and in St. Joseph’s Community Nursing Unit in Ennis, €1.05m is being spent on a new …

Read More »

New €2m injury unit opens at Ennis Hospital

The doors of the new €2m purpose built injury unit at Ennis Hospital have opened this Friday morning. The facility, adjacent to the main entrance of Ennis Hospital, replaces the existing unit that has operated out of the main hospital building since 2013. The new unit boasts five separate patient assessment bays, and according to the HSE will have the highest standards in Infection Prevention and Control (IP&C) compliance. There is also a brightly decorated waiting room and a separate triage area. Other utilities include a clinical room, storeroom, senior nurse manager’s office space, and a nurses’ station. Laid out in approximately 300 square metres (almost 3,230 square feet) of floor space, the Injury Unit cost just under €2m—funded from the HSE capital budget—and the project was managed by HSE Capital & Estates. Joe Cassidy, Acting Director of Nursing at Ennis Hospital, said the new unit would bring immediate improvements for staff and significantly enhance the overall patient experience at …

Read More »