A survey has found that of those who accessed healthcare services in the Midwest in the days leading up to and following New Year’s Day, more than half had their pharmacy as their first port of call.
The data collected by the Friends of Ennis Hospital Campaign gives a varied account of patients’ experience of healthcare in this region, with almost 15% describing UHL’s emergency department as “very poor”.
Friends of Ennis Hospital carried out the online patient survey from December 29th to January 6th.
The over 100 patients who responded were asked where they live, what service they used and to rate the service as excellent, good, average, poor or very poor.
Over 37% respondents were Ennis-based, with those from Kilrush making up almost 21% and just shy of 5% coming from outside Clare.
51% said their local pharmacy was their first port of call with 81% rating the service as “excellent”, while Shannondoc was the next most popular service.
Just under 18% availed of a walk-in clinic in Ennis or Limerick having failed to get treatment elsewhere, while 27% were treated by a GP.
Of the 24% who attended the emergency department at University Hospital Limerick, all but two were brought by ambulance.
When it came to rating patient experience at the Dooradoyle facility, 40% said it was excellent while more than 13% gave it a rating of very poor.