The Irish Medical Organisation (IMO) has welcomed HIQA’s independent review into urgent and emergency care in the HSE Mid West region.
The IMO has said it is critically important that action was taken immediately by Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill to address the stark deficit in bed capacity in the area.
Speaking today, Dr Anne Dee, President of the IMO and a public health consultant based in Limerick, said: “While the IMO welcomes the publication of the HIQA report today, its findings are hugely concerning for patients and the medical workforce working in the region. The serious deficit of beds is at the root of the problem in the mid-west, and a quality, safe service for patients cannot be delivered without these beds as well as the right number of staff.”
She said that University Hospital Limerick (UHL) was operating at a dangerous capacity which was detrimental for staff and patients, adding that the primary goal in the mid-west should be to support staff with the infrastructure they need to deliver safe care, rather than an improvement in productivity.
“Patients in the mid-west have lost trust in the system, and if that trust is to be rebuilt we need to see a clear, resourced plan with targeted supports. In addition to a longer term decision, short term measures to increase capacity must be initiated with supports both in terms of beds and services within the community – we need an immediate short term plan to run alongside a longer term ambition.”
Meanwhile, the Friends of Ennis Hospital (FEH) said its campaign team past and present have been vindicated since HIQA has today admitted that there are not enough inpatient beds in the Midwest Region and patient safety is compromised.
An FEH spokesperson said: “We would be remiss in not acknowledging the contribution made by the late Peadar McNamara in founding the original Ennis campaign the mantle of which weighed heavy on our shoulders at times.
Peadar, we know, would have been delighted with today’s result. His contribution will never be forgotten. Indeed, we have “stood on the shoulders of giants” to arrive at this point.”
“We must also acknowledge the trojan efforts of the staff across the Midwest region who have had to work in intolerable conditions of overcrowding over many years.
We appreciate that none of us have a magic wand to build another hospital overnight but today at least we can see light at the end of what has been a dark period for healthcare & healthcare workers in the Midwest.”
FEH added: “Today 16 years of hard work, data analysis; meetings; events; press releases and political pressure have come together to give us the result we have fought so hard for and fought too long for ~ Clinical advice recommending immediate action to address current risks to patient safety.
Our community comes from all over the county of Clare, the people who have supported us, shared our posts, completed our surveys and interacted with us privately over the course of the campaign with information that helped us at varying times.
We know that there will be those who will immediately jump on the possibility of a Model 3 hospital in the region, however in our view a Model 3 hospital would be too little too late for the Midwest as a 200-250 bed hospital will not eliminate TODAY’s trolleys never mind the anticipated increase in demand over the next 10-15 years
As everyone should be aware expansion at Dooradoyle is a non runner as capacity on the current site does not exist there are already issues with parking and with the anticipated and committed move of Maternity services from the Ennis Road to Dooradoyle there simply will not be space for the beds required to operate safely without further overcrowding.”
