Tag Archives: HSE

The continued closure of long-stay beds and some respite beds at Ennistymon Community Hospital has been condemned as “totally unacceptable” by former Clare County Councillor and local election candidate, Bill Slattery (FG). In a statement issued to The Clare Champion, he said that serious questions need to be answered by the HSE and hospital management as to why vitally important and much needed services are being denied to the community. “A huge amount of money and time has been invested by the people of North Clare in this facility and they deserve a return on that investment,” he said. Mr Slattery recently wrote to HSE CEO Bernard Gloster to highlight concerns about the continued closure of 12 beds at Ennistymon Community Hospital. He pointed out that six respite beds have remained unused in the old wing of the hospital since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic. Also, an additional six beds in the newly developed long-term ward – which is …

Concern has been expressed about the cessation of respite care at Ennistymon Community Hospital for two separate five-month periods due to staffing shortages. Councillor Liam Grant (GP) has expressed his disappointment that staff shortages have led to the ending of respite services from August 2022 to January 2023 and from August 2023 to January 2024. The palliative care bed and five respite beds are currently available for admission. Councillor Grant asked for a comprehensive report on the services provided at Ennistymon Community Hospital and HSE plans for future development at an HSE West Forum meeting. The Green Party Councillor also requested figures for how many beds are available for long-term, respite and palliative care, the occupancy rate and whether were there any staffing issues affecting what the hospital can provide. Welcoming the submission of an application to the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) to register six new beds, Councillor Grant said he hoped staffing issues don’t arise at the …

A woman, believed to be in her fifties, who was airlifted to hospital after she became unwell while swimming on Lough Derg, died at University Hospital Limerick (UHL) on Thursday evening. Emergency services were alerted to assist a woman who got into difficulty while swimming near the fishing stands on the Killaloe side of the Twomilegate bathing area. Killaloe Coast Guard was tasked to the scene at about 6.40pm and arrived to Ballycuggeran within seven minutes practically at the same time as one HSE paramedic. Members of the public had commenced cardiocompulmonary resuscitation (CPR) on a fishing stand near the forest area at Ballcuggeran. This was continued by two advanced HSE paramedics with assistance from Coast Guard members. It is understood that there were a lot of people swimming in the water at the time due to the hot weather. Assistance was requested from the Emergency Aeromedical Service, which sent the HSE’s Cork-based air ambulance, Aeromed 01, to the scene. …

  Major shortcomings in the provision of child and adolescent mental health services in the Mid-West have prompted an apology from the HSE. Serious concerns about the capacity of the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services to provide a safe service for young people in the region with mental health issues have been highlighted in a new report completed by the Mental Health Commission (MHC). Responding to the Commission’s critical report, HSE Mid West Community Healthcare stated it acknowledges deficits in the provision of CAMHS and apologises to children and families who have not received the standard of care that they or they expect. The HSE outlined it continues to progress a targeted series of service improvements in Mid- West CAMHS. The number of children waiting for a mental health appointment in West Clare has increased sevenfold in the last year up from 12 at the time of inspection in June 2022 to 91 in February 2023. The waiting list …

AN Ennis doctor who helped save the life of a hurling fan after he collapsed in a busy Dublin train station has modestly told us, “I think there was a lot of luck involved and I was in the right place at the right time.” Dr Carly Lewis, who is originally from the Tulla Road in Ennis, sprang into action and performed CPR on the man who is in his 70s after discovering he had no pulse. Fortunately he is now doing well, and following the experience Dr Lewis is appealing to the public to get Basic Life Support training saying, “The more people who are trained, the better the outcomes all round”. Dr Lewis was in the Drumcondra train station with her sister having come from watching Clare play Kilkenny in the All Ireland semi-finals in Croke Park when the emergency situation unfolded. She recalls they were about to get on the train when she noticed a commotion on …

MENTAL health services for young people in Clare are already deeply flawed, and could get much worse with many stressed and disillusioned staff hoping to quit, a new survey shows. The internal staff survey of workers in Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) in this county shows that 94% of respondents felt the Clare CAMHS clinical environment is not suitable for the support of young people. Worryingly, 100% of those surveyed either agreed or strongly agreed that a shortage of clinical space is putting the children supported by the service at risk. All of the respondents also held the view that poor staff retention is putting not only those who do access the services at risk, but also the children who are left on waiting lists. “We need more clinic space to be able to offer appointments to young people. Rushing people out of an appointment because there is someone waiting to come in, or not being able to …

Swimmers who use two popular bathing areas in West Clare have received a timely boost following the lifting of bathing prohibitions introduced earlier this week. Following additional investigative sampling and on the advice of the HSE, Clare County Council lifted the bathing prohibitions at both Spanish Point and White Strand Miltown Malbay on Friday morning. In accordance with An Taisce’s Blue Flag programme, the Blue Flags at both bathing areas were reinstated.   On the advice of the HSE, Clare County Council issued bathing prohibitions at both Spanish Point and White Strand Miltown Malbay on Tuesday. The red flag flew at Spanish Point until it was removed again on Friday morning. The restrictions were introduced as the results of routine bathing water samples taken at both locations had elevated levels of bacteria.   Run-off from the catchment after exceptionally heavy rainfall resulted in elevated levels of bacteria being identified in the water.   In accordance with An Taisce’s Blue Flag …

SHANNON grandmother Mariea Marley spent 55 hours on a trolley at UHL recently and this week she says she would be very reluctant to go to A&E in the future. Mariea’s only daughter Michelle lives near her two parents and she brought her mother to hospital, after having been told to go in at a doctor’s appointment. “She went in on Saturday after being down at ShannonDoc, her blood pressure was a bit up from this cough she had. I was a bit concerned because it was going on a while. “My mother is a dialysis patient, so she’d pick up things, and it seemed to me to be an infection, it was more than a cough or a cold. She had numerous antibiotics and steroids since Christmas and they weren’t clearing it.” Initially things didn’t look too bad at A & E. “It didn’t seem to be too manic at the time. There were a few in front of …