TDs and Senators in the Mid West should be willing to risk losing the party whip to ensure a 24-hour service is restored to hospitals in Ennis, Nenagh and Limerick, a meeting has heard.
At the January meeting of Clare County Council, there was unanimous backing for a cross party motion calling on the health services executive (HSE) to open Ennis general hospital, Nenagh hospital and St John’s hospital in Limerick on a 24/7 basis.
The motion was tabled in response to the overcrowding crisis at University Hospital Limerick (UHL), which serves close to 400,000 people in the Mid West.
Speaking at the meeting, councillor Mary Howard (FG), “Today (January 9) we have 489 people waiting on trolleys nationally. And 10% of those people are in UHL. We feel this is a national crisis all over the country. We are appealing to our all of our Oireachtas members in Clare, Tipperary and Limerick to stand together and insist on appropriate and safe healthcare for the citizens of the Midwest”.
“These facilities should be kept open 24 hours a day. Bigger is not always better. We are appealing to all our Oireachtas members to fight for their constituents. Even it means losing the party whip. We’ve waited too long and now is the time we need to stand together”, Cllr Howard added.
Mayor of Clare, Cllr Tony O’Brien (FF) said, “We want the backing of all our Oireachtas members in the Midwest because what is happening in UHL at present is criminal and cannot be tolerated and should not be tolerated in a civilised society”.
Cllr Cillian Murphy (FF), a member of the HSE regional health forum West, told the meeting that “it is worth noting that today the first patient was brought into Ennis general hospital through that new protocol with the ambulance service”.
“It allows for paramedics to reassess, clinically, the needs of patients. That is a big step change. It is the first patient that has gone through to Ennis since 2011 when they closed the A&E”, he added.
Cllr Murphy urged TDs and senators to throw everything, including the “kitchen sink”, at solving the crisis.
He said, “The reopening of the ED in Ennis is going to take time. In the interim there are solutions out there. There are solutions not necessarily within UHL’s gift. This is the national ambulance service who have changed their protocol. That is absolutely to be welcomed. What needs to be done now is that our Oireachtas members need to push hard and for that protocol to be widened to allow patients to be brought to the local injuries unit. And most importantly, that our Oireachtas members are pushing very hard that the A&E is open 24/7”.
Cllr Gerry Flynn (Ind) told the meeting the model of health care in the Midwest “has failed the public” and the public have lost confidence.
“It is a sad indictment on a number of grounds”, he said.
Cllr Pat Daly (FF) said the establishment of the HSE was a “major mistake”.
“It’s time now to abolish the HSE and go back to the old model of the health boards”, Cllr Daly added.
Cllr Donna McGettigan (SF) said action on the matter needs to be swift
“We need to move fast on this, otherwise we are going to see more deaths occurring”, she added.
