*Clare TD, Joe Cooney (FG) with Minister for Health, Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (FG).
CLARE’s chances of having a new acute hospital built remain slim following the Minister for Health’s first official visit to the county.
Two months on from the announcement of the decision to build a new €14m hospital in Raheen, Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (FG) visited Co Clare.
Organised by Clare TD, Joe Cooney (FG) the visit was to allow the Minister “see first-hand the reality of healthcare delivery on the ground”.
Deputy Cooney told The Clare Echo he was pleased the Minister accepted his invitation to visit Clare. “A key part of the visit was bringing the Minister to West and North Clare to meet local communities and hear directly about the challenges people face, particularly the long distances many must travel to access emergency care in Limerick or Galway. These are issues that are best understood by being here and speaking with people directly.
“We also discussed hospital capacity, ambulance services and the need to strengthen local provision, especially at Ennis Hospital. While the wider development of a Model 4 hospital in Limerick is part of the regional picture, Clare must also see real investment in services locally. I want to thank everyone who took the time to engage today. It was an important and constructive visit and I look forward to continuing the work to ensure Clare’s needs are heard and acted on,” he added.
Among the groups that the Minister met were Friends of Ennis Hospital (FEH) and its Chairperson Angela Coll described the meeting as “robust and important”. She was disappointed that the building of an acute hospital in Clare is not on the Minister’s agenda. “During the meeting, FEH again strongly pressed the case for an acute hospital in Clare for Clare. However, the group said that while there was discussion around expanding services in Ennis Hospital, no commitments were received in relation to the development of an acute hospital for the county”.
Angela said she stressed to the Minister “that services in Ennis cannot simply be expanded without substantial investment in staffing, particularly consultant staffing levels. The group pointed out that Ennis Hospital currently has one of the lowest consultant staffing levels of any Model 2 hospital in the country. The Minister indicated that consultant staff based in University Hospital Limerick could potentially support additional work in Ennis. However, FEH stated that this could only happen with significant investment in consultant staffing in Limerick itself, noting that UHL continues to operate with the lowest consultant numbers of any Model 4 hospital despite dealing with some of the highest levels of acuity, presentations, and admissions in the State”.
Following the meeting, Angela said there was confusion over comments made by the Minister to the media on the expansion of Ennis’ Medical Assessment Unit (MAU). “The group stated that it had been clearly explained during discussions that the Ennis MAU is not currently operating at full capacity due to the complexity and acuity of patients presenting in County Clare, many of whom require a level of acute care that Ennis Hospital is not presently resourced to provide. Similarly, FEH noted that proposals to extend CAT scan operating hours in Ennis would also require additional staffing and investment”.
Issues discussed during the meeting included, access to blood testing services for cancer patients, difficulties with referrals within the hospital system, the question of critical mass for acute presentations in the Mid-West, the ongoing pressure on University Hospital Limerick and the need for a HEMS (Helicopter Emergency Medical Service) based in Clare to help bridge the gap between current acute care provision and the long travel distances faced by patients in the region.
