Carey outlines strategy to improve Clare hospital service

ACCELERATED delivery of a new 48 bed unit at Ennis General Hospital is among a range of proposals being put forward by Fine Gael General Election candidate Leonora Carey to improve the standard of healthcare in Clare and throughout the wider Mid-West region.

While upgrading Ennis from a model 2 to a model 3 hospital with a fully functioning emergency department remains the ultimate objective, she says the provision of these additional beds are critical for the site to support the expansion of the Medical Assessment Unit (MAU) and enable patients from Clare to be transferred to the hospital from Limerick.

“A major recruitment drive should start immediately to ensure adequate staffing levels as hospital services expand in the meantime”, Ms Carey declared.

“The opening hours of the MAU were recently extended from 8am to midnight and it will soon be operating on a 24/7 basis. All MAU patients are reviewed by a senior clinician and they also have access to x-rays, blood tests, scans and further diagnostic imaging.

“This requires a significant increase in staff numbers and the demand will be even greater as the MAU moves to full time operation. A theatre upgrade is scheduled for completion by March 2026 and management is already struggling to fill existing staffing requirements,” she explained.

“The decision to develop Ennis as a model 3 hospital with an emergency department is largely reliant on the outcome of an independent review by the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) which will not be completed until next summer.

“Rather than wait for the HIQA review, there are several initiatives than can be undertaken to improve the range of services at Ennis General and relieve pressure on University Hospital Limerick (UHL)”, she said.

“Irrespective of the HIQA review, 48 additional beds are to be provided as part of the Acute Hospital Inpatient Bed Capacity Expansion Plan but it is now clear that the projected delivery date of 2031 will have to be brought forward. This is to prevent patient overcrowding becoming a problem at Ennis Hospital and to provide overflow capacity from UHL.

“The Mid West has the lowest number of hospital beds of any region in the country per head of population and increasing the number of beds at Ennis from its current level of 50 to 98 will only bring its capacity to an extent where it can cater for the demands of an ageing population and an increased requirement for acute hospital care.

“These improvements can only be of benefit if they are accompanied by a corresponding increase in staff numbers and it is clear that the recruitment and retention of suitably qualified staff will be a significant challenge.

“Ennis Hospital currently has 270 staff across all professions and disciplines. Catering for extended opening hours at the MAU and a doubling of the hospital’s current bed capacity will require upwards of 170 additional staff.

“The obvious solution is to start the recruitment process immediately. There is no point extending services and providing more beds if there is no long term strategy to staff them. It’s time for the decision makers to embrace the concept of planning for the future,” Ms Carey concluded.