Tag Archives: Ennis Hospital

CLARE GAA players are spending up to 10 hours at University Hospital Limerick’s (UHL) emergency department with injuries, which could easily be treated in Ennis, if opening hours are extended. That’s according to a member of the HSE West Forum, who expressed frustration at the length of time that players are spending in the overcrowded emergency department in Limerick. During a discussion at a forum meeting in Galway, Councillor Ann Norton claimed it had been put to her that arriving in UHL by ambulance would avoid chronic waiting times on trolleys for admission to the hospital. The previous government was subject to sustained criticism over its decision to remove 24-hour emergency services from Ennis and Nenagh Hospitals in April 2009. A minor injury clinic now operates in the two hospitals from 8am to 8pm. Round-the-clock emergency services in Ennis and Nenagh have not been restored by the Fine Gael/Labour coalition, despite public representatives voicing their opposition before services were removed. …

A Marie Keating Foundation mobile information unit, staffed by a trained nurse, will be at Midwestern Regional Hospital, Ennis on this Thursday from 11am to 3pm. This service is available to both men and women and is free of charge. The mobile unit is equipped with take-home information leaflets on each of the key cancers. The Marie Keating nurse can also provide practical advice on healthy lifestyle choices. The nurse will give cancer information presentations on the unit and use practical awareness tools such as the smokerlyzer, tar in a jar and body fat and scales to help to illustrate health massages. The trained nurse can talk to people on a one-to-one basis in a private area on board about any concerns that they might have about cancer, either for themselves or for someone else, such as a family member or friend. For more information see www.mariekeating.ie.

An Ennis woman, who recently tried to take her own life, has appealed for changes in the general admission and treatment policies for people suffering from severe psychological and emotional distress. Aisling Byrnes, aged 36, claims she was discharged on her own from University Hospital Limerick recently, without a care plan or a request for a family member to take her home, despite being under high observation while she was in the hospital. She has decided to speak about her recent experience to try and ensure no other patient experiences the same serious deficits in the regional mental health system. Her experience has prompted Liam Minogue of Emotions Peer Support Centre (Peer) to request the Mid-West HSE to conduct an urgent review of general admission and treatment policies for people in crisis. The Mid-West HSE hadn’t responded to a number of queries from The Clare Champion at the time of going to press. Ms Byrnes, who suffers from borderline personality disorder, …

THE shock departure of three registrars from Ennis Hospital has been described as a “crushing blow” for local acute services. Two experienced senior registrars, who treated patients in both Ennis and St Joseph’s Geriatric hospitals for over six years, have tendered their resignations. It is expected that Dr Kamal and Dr Haroon will finish up by the end of the year, while Dr Umbreen has decided not to renew her contract, which was up at the start of December. The Clare Champion has learned that the introduction of a new rota system, which involves registrars carrying out the task of senior house officers (SHO) after 5pm, which would be a demotion following years of training, was a major factor that influenced their decisions to leave. The Mid-West HSE has played down their departures stating “there is nothing unusual in doctors moving from one hospital to another”. “The employer is obliged to obey the law and, in this case, the European …

CLERICAL staff at Ennis Hospital were given computer memory sticks to complete their work at home, on an unpaid basis. The Clare Champion has learned that this work included letters to patients informing them of appointments and insurance claims but excluded patient medical records or information about individual medical conditions IMPACT issued a recent instruction to its low paid members to desist from the practice of removing any Health Service Executive (HSE) documentation, in hard or electronic format, from the hospital for completion outside of normal working hours. With some staff working over 10 additional hours a week on an unpaid basis, without any extra leave, the union has also warned that chronic staffing shortages are resulting in “clinical and corporate risks” to patients and staff. If another two full-time clerical officers leave and are not replaced, the union claimed the proper day-to-day administration of the hospital would collapse. The Mid-West HSE has stated any union issues of concern to …