*Minister for Health, Stephen Donnelly (FF). Photograph: Brian Arthur
HIQA’s review into the potential for a second emergency department in the Mid-West region must be published before next summer, county councillors have stressed.
In May, Minister for Health, Stephen Donnelly (FF) announced he was to initiate a review into urgent and emergency care capacity in the Mid-West region to determine whether a second Emergency Department (ED) is required. EDs are part of larger hospitals, known as Model 3’s / Model 4’s. HIQA have been tasked with completing this review.
Cllr Donna McGettigan (SF) in a motion before Monday’s meeting of Clare County Council urged the Minister to “expedite the final report from HIQA on the need for a second A&E. Reports are that this will not be published until next year, yet this is needed urgently. The crisis at University Hospital Limerick (UHL) has already been subjected to several reviews with very little positive outcomes for patients. Only recently we saw once again a raft of elective surgeries and appointments cancelled in light of overcrowding at UHL A&E. We would like to see this review completed and published urgently, less than a year for the sake of all people in Clare and wider regions”.
She noted that there has already been “several reviews and reports on the crisis in UHL”. The Shannon woman said, “the facts and figures speak for themselves, we need to speak out for those who are terrified, we need to speak out for the people of Clare to get them better health services”.
Friends of Ennis Hospital have produced “meaningful data” in their submission to HIQA outlining the case to open an emergency department in Ennis, Cllr Tommy Guilfoyle (SF) flagged, “the time is right to reopen it”. He said, “we need to look at finding a potential landbank to have land zoned in preparation for an outcome of the HIQA report which I believe will lead to a second ED for the Mid-West”.
Councillors will soon be briefed on the Friends of Ennis Hospital submission, Cllr Ian Lynch (IND) stated. “They have asked us to make submission to HIQA. It needs to be in Ennis not Limerick or Tipperary, it is important we get behind it”. Cllr Tom O’Callaghan (FF) commented, “Primary care is the health of people in our county. I attended the briefing, we will have a briefing at our next meeting on basis of showing facts and figures, the fight will be to get A&E in our county”.
Publication of HIQA’s report is not quick enough, Cllr Antoinette Baker Bashua (FF) maintained who said Clare needs to be proactive as both Limerick and Tipperary are already identifying potential landbanks. Cllr David Griffin (FF) said Ennis is the best option given it is “centred in the middle of a rural county”.
Members of the Regional Health Forum will question the delay in publishing the HIQA report, Cllr Rita McInerney (FF) advised. “The situation at UHL is the worst in the country. Given how far a lot of our constituents in North and West of our county are from Limerick it is paramount that we have the emergency department in Ennis”. Support was voiced by Cllr Joe Garrihy (FG) and Cllr John Crowe (FG). “Now is the time for action to get try get a second A&E in the Mid-West,” argued Cllr Joe Cooney (FG).
“As a Council we could be looking at getting a landbank in place in the event that we are ready. As councillors we’ve to fight our own corner, I live on the Limerick boundary, it doesn’t matter whether in Loop Head or by Limerick boundary, the A&E is not fit for purpose, it is a bottleneck, dignity is on the ground when you’re on a trolley, people are dying on the ground and it is not fit for purpose,” said Cllr Pat O’Gorman (FF). Cllr Michael Begley (IND) outlined, “we need to make progress on it by deciding if we have a location whether it is new or part of the existing facility”.
