*Friends of Ennis Hospital Chairperson Angela Coll with PJ Cunningham. Photograph: Martin Connolly
EFFORTS of health campaigners across Clare has paid off with sustained advocacy giving the county a shot of being the location for a new hospital with an emergency department.
Minister for Health, Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (FG) on Tuesday announced that all three HIQA options to expand hospital capacity in the Mid-West would proceed. Option C allows for the construction of a new hospital with Co Clare one of the leading contenders to be the county where this facility is based.
Friends of Ennis Hospital welcomed the Minister’s commitments to progress Options A, B and C of the HIQA review. They stressed the need for the new hospital to be built in Clare. “It would be our belief that in the long term 𝐎𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐂 is needed in Clare as we have a fast-growing population and 40% of our permanent population is more than an hour from an ED which leaves tens of thousands of Clare people beyond the ‘golden hour’ not to mind the millions of tourists who visit our coast every year and arrive into our international airport. The Minister must also commit to developing a fit for purpose ambulance service for our county and region to ease the worries of patients who have experienced long delays in this regard in recent years. Lastly, the commitment to building a new campus while welcome must go hand in hand with a recruitment campaign.
Progressing all three options is “the first time in a long time we have an announcement that will go some way to achieving parity and equity with other regions but only if it is done properly,” FEH added.
Mid-West Hospital Campaign have said clarity was lacking from the announcement. They claimed the lives lost in the emergency department of University Hospital Limerick (UHL) “have been forgotten in the current scramble for headlines and political self-congratulation. It is vital that the people of this region who fought so hard for change are not forgotten or airbrushed out of existence. Your voices, your persistence and your courage are what have brought us this far”.
Information on additional funding is lacking from the Government, the group flagged as they questioned why trust should be given to those making the announcements.
Despite the first commitment to build a new hospital, the Mid-West Hospital Campaign argued that the counties of the region are worse off as a result. “Once again, communities are being asked to accept promises without detail. Equally troubling are the politicians who rushed to welcome the statement from the Minister for Health, that, in reality, leaves people in Clare, Limerick and North Tipperary in a worse position. The Minister has indicated that the region may have a second Emergency Department in 10 to 15 years’ time. Meanwhile, the Mid West will continue to rely on a single Emergency Department serving three counties. All of this with an ever-increasing population”.
Clare TD, Joe Cooney (FG) said the plans to increase hospital capacity in the region would not have happened without hospital and health service campaign groups’ sustained advocacy. “In my year since becoming a member of Dáil Éireann, and previously during my time as a member of Clare County Council, I have witnessed at first hand the relentless, science-driven and people-centred approach adopted by these campaign groups. Their advocacy has always been grounded in evidence, focused on patient outcomes and carried out with dignity and determination”.
Deputy Cooney initiated a grouping of TDs and Senators from Clare, Limerick and Tipperary “to build political consensus” on the options from the HIQA review. The group met on three occasions where the fourteen Oireachtas members reached “unanimous agreement” that all three HIQA options must be progressed “in parallel to relieve the ongoing and unacceptable pressure at University Hospital Limerick”.
Cathal Crowe TD (FF) who last month following a briefing with the Health Minister said she was to only pursue Option A and B from the report was among the first politicians to issue a statement welcoming the announcement that all three options would be delivered.
He stated, “There are still some questions to be answered regarding the specifics around Option C, a new build Emergency Department in the region, such as timeline and location. Whilst the Minister for Health has refused to be drawn on possible options, in my view it is vital – and makes sense geographically – that the new Emergency Department is located within County Clare. In the short-term I am calling for immediate clarity on if the Minister’s plan is to see Option B developed into Option C, at the same site. As far as I am concerned, a plan which sees a second ED built within enough proximity to UHL that it could be considered ‘adjacent’ would fall far short of what has been long fought for and desired by the people of Clare.
“40% of Clare’s permanent population is more than an hour from an ED and that means tens of thousands of Clare people are living beyond the ‘golden hour’ for cardiac care. We absolutely need to ensure that the damage done by the 2009 closure of Ennis A&E is undone and healthcare for the people of Clare is futureproofed.It is also positive that there will be an enhancing of the services and bed capacity at Ennis hospital, St Joseph’s in Limerick, and Nenagh Hospital,” the Meelick native added.
