HSE has no plans 'at present' to extend opening hours at Nenagh Injury Clinic and MAU
There are no plans at present to extend the Injury Unit or Medical Assessment Unit opening hours in Nenagh Hospital to 24-hour coverage, according to Prof Colette Cowan, University Hospital Limerick Group CEO.
She was responding to a written question from Cllr Seamus Morris at the May meeting of the Health Forum West in which she asked if they were operating on a 27/7 basis.
He also asked how many times they had to close and for how many hours or days due to staffing or resources issues due to the recent protocol change. Under the change, in some instances, a patient may be brought to hospital without having to go through ED.
Prof Cowan revealed that there had been no closures at any of UHLG’s Injury Units this year. The same held for its MAUs as recent funding approval of €5.2m by the HSE’s National Acute Division now allowed all three MAUs to open seven days per week.
Recruitment was ongoing for an additional 51.45 WTE across a number of specialties including medical doctors, nurses, allied health professionals, health and social care professionals and administrative staff, she said.
As more of these staff take up post, the number of additional slots available for medical assessment will gradually increase.
Once all staff were in posts, the overall effect of this investment will be the creation of an additional 7,176 slots per annum across the three sites. This will significantly enhance the acute medical healthcare referral alternatives available to GPs over weekends, said Prof Cowan.
Meanwhile, the CEO told Cllr Morris in a separate reply that since the MAU protocol had been extended to Nenagh Hospital at the start of February that it had been used a total of 25 times.
“It is important to note that MAU referrals can only be accepted when patients meet the agreed clinical criteria, “she said.
The CEO pointed out that a key element was a telephone referral from the treating paramedic to the receiving MAU doctor, which ensured that the right patient was brought to the MAU. If patients did not meet the agreed clinical criteria they were brought to the Emergency Department at UHL.
The Medical Assessment Unit treats patients referred by their Injury Unit / GP / Shannondoc. A wide variety of medical complaints are seen in these units.
Patients attending the MAU will be reviewed by a senior clinician and may require x-rays, blood tests, scans or further diagnostic imaging.
MAUs provide diagnosis and treatment for patients referred with medical conditions including chest infections, COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease), pneumonia, urinary tract infections, fainting episodes, clots in the leg, anaemia or non-acute cardiac problems.
In 2022, 12,737 patients were referred to the MAUs in the group’s three hospitals.
The highest number of patients brought to Nenagh Hospital under the protocol was in the week of February 27, when seven patients used the pathway, she revealed.