THE transfer of patients to Ennis Hospital Medical Assessment Unit for emergency care is set to continue for the foreseeable future.
The announcement comes on foot of a meeting this Wednesday between Oireachtas members in the Mid-West Region, the Taoiseach, Minister for Health, Senior HSE officials and the management of UL Hospitals Group.
Speaking after the meeting, Deputy Violet Anne Wynne said, “I have spoken with the CEO of UL Hospitals Group Prof. Colette Cowan, and she has assured me that the transferring of patients by ambulance to the MAU at Ennis Hospital for emergency care where possible will continue beyond the end of this current massive level of overcrowding at University Hospital Limerick.
“I have sought assurances that resources will be ramped up to ensure that this new MAU pathway will not detract from the existing services provided at Ennis Hospital. I have not received those assurances; however, I have been informed that the management will meet again next Monday to discuss the possible increase in resourcing required at the hospital.”
Deputy Wynne said she had written to the Minister last week asking him to convene the meeting that took place this Wednesday morning, and said she would be following up to request that a taskforce is put in place to re-evaluate the decisions made to close the Emergency Department at Ennis Hospital.
The deputy said she wanted to explore the best steps forward are to ensure that all hospitals within the UL Hospitals Group are operating to the best of their ability to lessen and keep the pressure off the bottleneck in the Emergency Department at UHL.
Deputy Wynne continued, “It is essential that Oireachtas members across the Mid-West region are kept fully up to date with the day-to-day and week-to-week operations of the Health Service in the region, and I will be requesting regular updates on this new MAU pathway in Ennis.
“I can confirm that since the beginning of the trial on both Monday and Tuesday three patients were taken by ambulance to Ennis with two of them able to be treated there on-site and no need to add to the overcrowding in Limerick.
“This is hugely significant, but it is just a first step. It is vital now that pressure is kept on the Minister and Taoiseach to see the increase of the MAU hour to 18 or 24 hours a day opening, not merely eight.
“The next step beyond a 24-hour MAU must be the addition of a full Emergency Department – the upgrade of Ennis to a model 3 hospital to complement the model 4 at UHL.
“As we are all aware, UHL is the only model 4 hospital in the country without a complementary model 3. The massive overcrowding crisis that we have witnessed over the past few weeks is a direct result of the stripping of emergency services from Ennis in 2009 and it is now clearer than ever that the only thing to ensure we are not faced with the same crisis this time next year is to upgrade Ennis to a model 3 hospital.
“What we have seen over the last few weeks with record levels of overcrowding; outpatient appointments cancelled on a large scale; and a major internal incident at UHL is that the status quo of relying on one A&E to serve three counties has failed the people of the Mid-West yet again. To anyone working on the ground this is not news, this strategy does not work, it has never worked.
“Since my election I have continuously raised the reinstatement of services to Ennis Hospital with the Minister and both Taoisigh and it is essential that reopening Ennis is not just seen as a quick fix solution. We must reopen Ennis incrementally, by firstly extending the MAU hours to 18 or 24 hours a day 7 days a week, and then building on the progress to upgrade the hospital to Model 3.
“As any TD knows, there is a recruitment and retention crisis in the public sector, especially in filling vacancies in health roles and it is unrealistic to think that we would be able to just throw extra money at a hospital and expect it to work.
In conclusion, Deputy Wynne said, “Since my election to Dáil Éireann, upgrading Ennis to a Model Three hospital has been my number one priority. I have worked with stakeholders, groups, and concerned individuals, and raised it continuously with the Minister for Health and the current and former Taoisigh.
“As I prepare to go back to the Dáil next week, Ennis Hospital is to the front of my mind and I will be raising it and requesting updates consistently, just as I have done up to now.”