The Head of the HSE has confirmed that the removal of 24 hour A&E cover at Ennis General will come to an end within weeks.
Professor Brendan Drumm reiterated the Health Service Executive’s stance at government buildings this week ahead of mass rally by Ennis hospital campaigners against the withdrawal of services.
In a statement to the Joint Committee on Health and Children this week Professor Brendan Drumm said that the Mid West has two small hospitals, Ennis General and Nenagh with 24 hour A&E departments which see very few emergency patients at night and that the vast majority of these can be dealt with by existing out of hours GP services.
He added that there were three emergency surgery teams in place seven nights a week spread across Ennis Nenagh and Saint Johns in Limerick that on average deal with one emergency per week.
Professor Drumm confirmed to the committee that full A&E cover at Ennis General will be removed in April and replaces with local emergency services and medical assessment units operating up to 14 hours a day..
At the same time an enhanced ambulance service with 12 advanced paramedics will be put in place
The HSE boss concluded that next July all emergency cancer and major surgery will be centralised in Limerick and that the small hospitals like Ennis will see their services grow…with Clare’s county hospital set to get a new endoscopy and day ward..
However local campaigners along with GP’s in county Clare dispute the figures put forward by the HSE and argue that downgrading A:&E will have a detrimental effect on patients lives here
They have organised a mass rally against the centralisation of services for this Saturday and are vowing to continue to fight the impending changes
