The National Ambulance Service will be allowed transport patients to Ennis General Hospital for treatment for the first time since the A&E department there was controversially closed.
Despite being repeatedly proposed in the past, from Monday, paramedics will be permitted bring patients in specific circumstances straight to the Medical Assessment Unit at the county hospital. It’s understood the shift in policy is aimed at alleviating pressure at the consistently overcrowded Emergency Department at University Hospital Limerick.
Since Ennis hospital’s accident and emergency department was closed in 2009, ambulances have had to transfer patients from Clare directly to University Hospital Limerick (UHL) no matter how minor their injury or ailment was.
Prior to that, even when the A&E was still open in Ennis, patients with serious illness or injury were taken directly to UHL under a system called the Major Injury Bypass Protocol.
In a memo this week, HSE staff have now been told that from 8am on Monday, “112/999 patients can be transported directly to the Medical Assessment Unit (MAU) in Ennis Hospital”.
However, this can only happen when a patient meets “agreed clinical criteria” and they have “been accepted by the MAU physician in Ennis”.
Ambulance paramedics will have the option of bringing patients to Ennis instead of Limerick between 8am and 6pm from Monday to Friday.
It’s hoped that the new policy will also help keep ambulances in Clare for longer periods. The county is regularly left without any local ambulance cover as the National Ambulance Service continues to operate a controversial policy of ‘dynamic deployment’ of ambulances.
Confirmation and details of the new policy are awaited from the HSE.
One of those who had been calling for the policy to be changed to allow patients be taken directly to Ennis West Clare Councillor Cillian Murphy.
Welcoming the development, he said: “While it’s not a permanent solution to, or a replacement for, an ED in Ennis, it’s definitely a very positive step in the right direction for the people of Clare, and means paramedics can now clinically assess patients and redirect them away from ED to an alternate care pathway if appropriate. Crucially it should also mean those ambulances are away from West Clare for far less time.
Next pressure point we all need to work on is similar with regard to the injury clinic as well, and to have both MAU and Injury clinic open 18 – 24 hours per day.”
A document sent to National Ambulance Service (NAS) staff in the Mid-West outlined the circumstances under which “112/999 patients can be transported directly to the Medical Assessment Unit in Ennis Hospital.”
These include: ‘The patient meets the agreed clinical criteria’ and ‘the patient has been accepted by the MAU Physician in Ennis.’
The memo states: “Access to this pathway is not confined to patients in County Clare – patients from Limerick and North Tipperary are also eligible provided they meet the clinical requirements and are accepted by the MAU Physician.”
NAS crews can ring a dedicated number to refer a patient to Ennis Hospital. Decision on a patient’s eligibility will be made after consultation with the MAU Physician on duty.
If the patient is accepted by the receiving physician, transport the patient directly to Ennis MAU. If the patient is not deemed suitable, the patient should be transported to the nearest Emergency Department as per normal procedure.
The pathway is accessible Monday to Friday 0800 – 1800 (excluding Public Holidays); patients cannot be referred to Ennis MAU outside these hours.
Details of the criteria for direct ambulance transfers to Ennis Hospital MAU are included in the memo.
