Tag Archives: Shannon Health Centre

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 …

GENERAL practitioners at a new community assessment hub for confirmed and suspected Covid-19 patients are seeing a smaller volume of people than expected. A new assessment service for local confirmed and suspected Covid-19 patients whose health is deteriorating in Shannon Health Centre got underway on Wednesday, April 15. This service is for patients who have a presumed or a positive test for Covid-19 whose condition is worsening and requires an urgent face-to-face consultation following a referral by their own GP. All other patients will continue to be managed by their own GP. Twenty local general practitioners have volunteered to work in the new Community Assessment Hub following special induction training. Dr Páraic Meaney of the Burren Medical Centre, Corofin, told the Clare Champion doctors at the hub have seen a smaller number of patients that they envisaged, which is a very positive development. “The new community assessment hub is running very smoothly. We are seeing less patients than expected, which …

THE HIGHEST safety standards and infection control measures will be stringently applied in a new assessment unit for Clare’s Covid-19 patients, according to a local doctor. A new assessment service for local confirmed and suspected Covid-19 patients whose health is deteriorating started in Shannon Health Centre on Wednesday. There are 106 confirmed Covid-19 cases in Clare compared to 265 in Limerick and 219 in Tipperary on Wednesday. In total, 20 local general practitioners have volunteered to work in the new Community Assessment Hub following special induction training. Dr Páraic Meaney of the Burrren Medical Centre, Corofin, told the Clare Champion any patient who will be treated by the new service have nothing to fear as it is purposely designed to minimise patient contact with others. Dr Meaney confirmed all staff who will be wearing full personal protective equipment (PPE) have received training on how to put on and take off this equipment. “This service is for patients who have a …

A NEW Clinical Assessment Unit is expected be set up in Shannon Health Centre on Monday, April 13  for Clare patients who are confirmed as Covid-19 positive. As part of the HSE system wide response to Covid 19, this unit will provided a face-to-face clinical assessment for patients following a GP referral. The aim of the units is to divert mildly symptomatic patients who require medical assessment away from the acute hospital system by providing a facility in the community in which the patient can be seen, and clinically assessed by a team of nurses, doctors and physiotherapists. The unit will provide service Monday to Sunday by appointment only from 07.30 to 20.30. According to the HSE’s COVID-19 Community Assessment Hubs Operational Model, which has been obtained by the Clare Champion, the outcome of the assessment will inform clinical decisions regarding the most appropriate level of care for each patient in the most appropriate environment. Consequently, this will not be …