Tag Archives: Maria Bridgeman

THE Mid-West HSE has advertised for two dietitians to support the assessment and treatment of children and young people with eating disorders. Maria Bridgeman, Chief Officer, HSE Mid West Community Healthcare has outlined what supports are available to young people with eating disorders in Clare following a question tabled by Councillor Mary Howard at a recent HSE West Forum meeting. Ms Bridgeman stated the East Clare and West Clare HSE CAMHS Teams offer assessment and interventions to children and adolescents with eating disorders, as well as supports to their parents and carers. Services provided include assessment and family based treatment is line with the National Clinical Programme for Eating Disorders. The HSE also support admission to CAMHS inpatient units if necessary. It provides referral consultations and pre-admission/post discharge support and funds private sessions on an needs basis. The work of Bodywhys a national organisation supporting people affected by eating disorders that operates on a self-referral basis, has also been higlighted. …

THE Mid-West Public Health Department has warned about the risks posed for the spread of Covid-19 as a result of social mixing among multiple households. The warning was issued this week as it investigates more than 55 household situations, involving at least two cases each, across the Mid-West region since March 1. These “situations” are in households where a more in-depth public health risk assessment has been undertaken because of either having a suspected or confirmed outbreak. The department has provided an example of a complex community outbreak of more than 20 cases, occurring as a direct result of social mixing among multiple households, which occurred in the Mid-West region in recent months. Each household was exposed to other settings, including workplaces and extended families, resulting in further spread of infection outside the household. One household cluster was linked to a workplace outbreak of more than five cases, which then spread to the household of a staff member, resulting in …

SIGNIFICANT increases in hospital bed capacity and development of a range of integrated community care packages and enhanced home care supports are at the core of the joint €35.7 million UL Hospitals’ Group (ULHG) and HSE Mid-West Community Healthcare Winter Plan for 2020-21. The Winter Plan is a range of integrated measures aimed at keeping the residents of the Mid-West well and ensuring the safe provision of care in our hospitals during a period of unprecedented challenge for the health services. While Covid-19 remains prevalent within the community, the total Winter Plan investment of almost €36m will improve access to appropriate care at home or close to home, with an emphasis on hospital avoidance. Under the plan, more than €20 million is allocated to UL Hospitals’ Group for investment in staffing for its ongoing expansion of single-room bed capacity, primarily at University Hospital Limerick (UHL). Since the Autumn, UHL has opened 38 beds in new rapid-build bed blocks constructed under …

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 …

AN excellent response by the public has meant far fewer people have gotten sick and died over the last few months but it is not time to let down the guard. That’s the view of Maria Bridgeman, Chief Officer of HSE Mid West Community Healthcare. “The big message now is please, please hold firm. I will be working with my colleagues in the local authority and the gardaí in relation to this message. The long weekend is coming and people often head away or to the beach but we are asking people to hold firm and stick with the guidance. “Everyone needs to look out for each other and continue the measures. These sacrifices that people are making, while I absolutely know they are difficult, is what has got us to this point. We want to get this country restarted but it can only be done in a slow, managed and safe way.” She agreed that the predictions being made …