CLARE County Councillor Pat Daly missed this week’s meeting of the local authority, as he was on a trolley at UHL.
When The Champion contacted him about a Council proposal that a site be zoned for a Model 3 Hospital in Ennis, which is said to be contained in the local authority’s submission to HIQA’s review of urgent and emergency care in the region, Councillor Daly said it would be “a brilliant initiative” and that it has to happen.
The Ennis councillor said that the poor state of services in the region had been brought home to him in recent days.
“I came into this hospital last Saturday with a heart that would remind you of Shane O’Donnell heading for goal – fair, fair fast- thankfully they have slowed it down.
“My brother Sean and I walked the full length and breadth of the A&E on Monday and it was absolute mayhem, trolley after trolley, crowds of people, total frustration, tears and unhappiness all over the place.
“The nurses and doctors were finding it awfully difficult to cope, they were like McAlpine’s Fusiliers, non stop on the go.
“You cannot blame management or staff on this one. Our Lord on a good day would find it almost impossible to deal with.”
He said that the removal of A&Es at Ennis, Nenagh and St John’s has had very negative consequences, while he argued that Clare has been left behind.
“To HIQA I would say that on the western seaboard, from Donegal to Cork, Clare is the only county left with only a Model 2 hospital and what does that say? No disrespect to Tipperary people but they have a Model 2 and a Model 3 hospital in Nenagh and Clonmel. The population of Clare is at almost 130,000 people, it deserves a new Model 3, state of the art hospital, and Clare County Council are putting it on a plate for you.”
He said Clare’s TDs have a huge opportunity to deliver something important for the county.
“To our four new TDs, I say this is the biggest chance of your political lives, deliver on this and you will be unsung heroes in this county. Our health system will go to a higher level like in hurling when Anthony Daly lifted the Liam MacCarthy cup in 1995, hurling in Clare never looked back.”
The Ennis councillor said that while there is much that is positive at UHL, centralising A&E there has never worked, and putting a Model 3 hospital in Ennis can help resolve many of the region’s issues.
“Some years ago we opened a centre of excellence at UHl, most parts of it were excellent, there was top class treatment, it was fully equipped, there were excellent medical crews throughout the hospital, but one thing that didn’t work was the A&E.
“It can’t cope, servicing North Tipperary, Limerick City and County and Clare, it is that bit too much. Put a Model 3 hospital into Ennis and it will go a long way towards solving the serious medical crisis we have not alone in Clare but throughout the Mid West.”
Owen Ryan has been a journalist with the Clare Champion since 2007, having previously worked with a number of other publications in Limerick, Cork and Galway. His first book will be published in December 2024.