The CEO of the HSE has ruled out an upgrade of Ennis Hospital to a model three facility.
Paul Reid is visiting there today, as part of a series of engagements across the Midwest this week.
It follows calls from local health campaigners for the Emergency Department to be re-opened at the county hospital in light of chronic overcrowding at University Hospital Limerick.
Paul Reid is visiting services in Clare today as part of a series of visits to specialist services around the country.
On the agenda is a visit to the Injury and Medical Assessment Units at Ennis hospital, as well as the the Psychiatric Unit and the new Primary Care Centre in the town, which is nearing completion.
Yesterday, he visited University Hospital Limerick to examine the challenges faced by the hospital in the wake of a damning HIQA report and to engage with staff, management, service users and the region’s politicians.
Paul Reid has told Clare FM, that the Health Service Executive has been monitoring the overcrowding crisis at the region’s main hospital for a number of weeks and is reassuring they’re committed to addressing issues there.
The HSE’s national taskforce has been working closely with local hospital management and community teams to develop a range of actions aimed at alleviating pressure on the hospital over a sustained period.
A report from the taskforce on issues at UHL is set to take a number of weeks and a broad set of recommendations are expected from that, as wells as a separate report from Deloitte on behalf of the UL Hospitals Group.
Paul Reid says he’ll be focused on making sure that the recommended resources are delivered, but that the solution is not only about the hospital itself.
He insists the answer is also in community interventions, which will prevent people from having to go to the hospital in the first place, but he’s warned that will take a sustained period of time to take effect.
There have been ongoing calls from local campaigners for the Emergency Department to be re-opened at Ennis Hospital and for it to be upgraded to a model three facility, but Paul Reid has ruled this out.
He says it’s “obvious” there’s a need to strengthen capacity at both Ennis and Nenagh Hospitals and has committed to remaining focused on that approach.
Listen back to the full interview here:
