Tag Archives: HSE West Forum

The number of Health Care Support Assistants (HCSA) employed in North Tipperary was more than six times higher than Clare in 2021, new figures have revealed. Councillor Cillian Murphy (FF) asked at a recent HSE West Forum meeting for a list of all the types of home care supports provided by the HSE, and the numbers of staff for each type that are directly employed by the HSE in Clare, Galway, Limerick and Tipperary for the years 2021, 2022 and 2023. The HSE confirmed there were just 28 HCSA’s employed in Clare in 2021 compared to 176 in North Tipperary and 218 in Limerick. This improved in 2022 when the number of HCSA’s in Clare jumped to 75, the number in North Tipperary stayed the same at 176 and the numbers in Limerick fell slightly to 215. All areas in the Mid-West benefited from an increase in HCSA’s in 2023 – Clare went up to 86, North Tipperary jumped to …

MEMBERS of the regional health forum for the Midwest are being urged to make the case for the restoration of services at Ennis General, when they meet senior hospital officials next week.  In a statement, the Midwest Hospital Campaign, Clare, outlined that a meeting is to take place next Tuesday (July 19) between the management of University Hospital Limerick (UHL) and forum members representing Clare, Limerick and Tipperary. It follows a unanimous call for the restoration of Emergency Department (ED) services in Ennis, Nenagh and St John’s in Limerick, at the May meeting of the HSE West Regional Health Forum. The request for a follow-up meeting was made by Clare Green Councillor Liam Grant and Tipperary Independent Councillor Séamie Morris. “The Midwest Hospital Campaign Clare calls on all members of the forum to use this opportunity to advance the case to upgrade Ennis Hospital, to a model 3, which would mean the return of  24/7 Emergency Department to the county,” …

PLANS are being put in place by the HSE to deal with the huge influx of Ukrainian refugees that have arrived and are expected to continue coming into Ireland over the coming weeks in the wake of the Russian invasion. Galway councillor Evelyn Parsons has asked the HSE West what preparations it is making to receive, treat and provide medical services for the expected arrival of Ukrainian refugees. With reports that between 20,000 and 150,000 Ukrainian people, mainly women and children may come to Ireland, Councillor Parsons requested an update from HSE officials at a recent HSE West Forum meeting concerning what additional resources are being made available to deal with the health needs of this huge influx of people. The Independent Councillor raised questions about Covid-19 vaccinations; psychological services and translation services and whether any facilities were being put in place to hire qualified Ukrainian medical people to work in the Irish health service. The HSE has stated that …

COUNCILLOR Cillian Murphy has requested actions to provide insulin pump therapy and Type One Diabetes Self-Management Education for  Clare adults with Type One diabetes. Speaking at a HSE West Forum meeting on Tuesday, Councillor Murphy asked the HSE if it could confirm whether diabetes dietitians and diabetes specialist nurses posts have been included by the UL Hospitals’ Group in their 2021 Budget Estimates. If this is the case, he wondered when would the public be informed when these vital posts were approved. UL Hospitals’ Group chief executive officer, Colette Cowan confirmed there is only one whole-time equivalent (WTE) consultant endocrinologist in UL Hospitals’ Group working with adult diabetic patients and noted a second consultant endocrinologist is due to commence in October 2020. The adult diabetes service is supported by a dedicated team of clinical nurse specialists (CNS) and staff nurses. Diabetic nurse support is available in St Johns, Ennis and University Maternity Hospital Limerick. In addition there are currently two …

SOURCING staff during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic became a real challenge, according to Mid-West Community Healthcare chief officer, Maria Bridgeman. In a wide-ranging presentation via Zoom for members of the HSE West Forum earlier this week, Ms Bridgeman outlined the huge volume of work undertaken by the HSE and partner agencies to combat the spread of the virus once the first case was confirmed on March 4. “We had to start from scratch and identify areas that would be suitable for isolation units. The turnaround for these were required quite quickly. These units had to be kitted out in line with infection control guidelines. “One significant piece of work was setting up the community testing and swabbing teams. This involved a lot of significant work, which was resource dependent,” she said. It involved a lot of staff setting up a new information technology system called swift queue. We had to get staff to upload all the names of …

Children whose parents cannot afford to pay for private dental treatment are waiting up to three years to see an orthodontist, a Galway councillor has claimed. The “gaping” lack of orthodontic treatment available for children in the county was raised by Councillor Catherine Connolly at a recent HSE West Forum meeting. Councillor Connolly made her comments after tabling a question about orthodontic treatment for children in the county, what service is currently available, the nature and duration of all waiting lists and the criteria used for these lists. Saolta University Health Care Group chief operating officer, Tony Canavan, revealed the waiting time for treatment currently stands at three years, while the waiting time for assessment is three to four months. However, Mr Canavan noted a small number of cases are on a priority waiting list due to the severity of the case, or if the child’s treatment is dependent on growth. This list has a 20-month wait time he stated. He explained …