Measures announced by Health Minister are ‘sticking plasters’

*Marie McMahon. Photograph: Martin Molloy

MEASURES announced for more beds in Nenagh and Ennis to alleviate pressure on University Hospital Limerick have been labelled as “a package of sticking plasters”.

During a visit to UHL, Minister for Health, Stephen Donnelly (FF) said an additional 86 beds, including 16 rapid-build beds at UHL, 50 step-down beds in Nenagh, and 20 community healthcare beds in Clare, would be provided ahead of an expected winter surge of patients to try to help alleviate pressure on patients and staff.

A 96-bed block presently under construction on the grounds of UHL is to open in 2025 and a second 96-bed block will also come on stream,.

Responding to the measures, the Mid-West Hospital Campaign said that it welcomed any measure, “no matter how small”, that helped alleviate the dangerously overcrowded conditions in UHL. The campaign welcomed the new “GP on the door services” in the emergency department, describing the service as quite successful where it operates in the NHS in sending patients on to more effective pathways and easing the congestion in emergency departments.

However, the campaign went on to describe the measures announced by the Minister as “sticking plasters, and re-used sticking plasters at that.” The campaign claimed that some of the measures had been tried already, such as the weekend rostering of consultants, but with little lasting effect and that other measures, such as the re-opening of the Minor Injury Units on a 24 hour basis, had already been announced previously.

Ennistymon woman, Marie McMahon said comparisons from Minister Donnelly were “disingenuous”. She flagged, “Waterford has a Model 4 hospital, but also has access to 4 model 3’s and 1 model 4 (Cork) in under an hour. Mullingar has a Model 3 hospital and seven emergency departments within an hour’s travel time. Beaumont is a Model 4 hospital and similarly has the support of seven hospitals with emergency departments within an hour’s distance.”

“So while the suite of measures may be successful in areas that are well serviced by other hospitals, the Midwest remains the only region in the country without a Model 3 hospital and serviced by a single Model 4 hospital. This is the demonstrably overstretched UHL, which provides the only emergency department to cater for 420,000 people. Until such a time as the Minister accepts this reality and stops spinning, it’s clear that very little will actually change,” Marie added.

Mid-West Hospital Campaign will be holding a ‘drive to save lives’ this Saturday.