Limerick's St John's Hospital to serve patients seeking emergency treatment

ST JOHN'S Hospital in Limerick city centre is to once again start accepting patients who are seeking emergency care.

The hospital is to open a Medical Assessment Unit (MAU) following a trial in Ennis.

A similar facility at Nenagh General Hospital will open first, with St John's following soon after, HSE sources have indicated.

Patients needing emergency treatment will not be seen at this new facility - rather, GPs will refer patients here.

Alternatively, patients who may call an ambulance, and whose conditions are determined by paramedics or staff in the Emergency Department (ED) at University Hospital Limerick (UHL) to not require urgent treatment will be referred to the facility in Johnsgate and given a set appointment time.

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This is being done in a bid to relieve the waiting times at the Dooradoyle hospital, which earlier this year was forced to declare an emergency incident following unprecedented overcrowding.

Following this, a protest was held in Limerick which drew 11,000 people who demanded improved public health conditions in the region.

The move was confirmed by a spokesperson for the University of Limerick Hospitals Group (ULHG).

"We are pleased with the progress of this initiative to date. An evaluation involving our MAU physicians and our National Ambulance Service (NAS) partners will be necessary before a decision is made on any expansion of the service. However, we have every expectation of success for the Ennis pathway, with a view to continuing that service and, with the agreement of NAS and the HSE, expanding it to our MAUs in Nenagh and St John’s Hospitals," they said.

The move means that patients will be treated in hospitals closer to their homes with less pressure on the UHL system as a result.

Elsewhere, St John's Hospital's board of management this week welcomed UHL boss Prof Colette Cowan, Prof Brian Lenehan, Joe Hoare and Prof Paul Burke to its board meeting.

They were discussing the next steps in progressing the capital development plan at the hospital, with hopes that a new 150-bed unit can open on the grounds of the facility.

LimerickLive has contacted ULHG for further comment on this.