Urgent plan needed for second emergency department for Mid-West say North Tipp Sinn Féin

Sinn Féin activists in Tipperary North, Dan Harty and Damien O’Donoghue have welcomed the publication of HIQA’s review of urgent and emergency care in the Midwest, saying the report gave a clinical underpinning to the solutions which local campaigners and Sinn Féin had previously outlined to improve patient safety for patients in the Mid-West region.

Mr. O’Donoghue said that the government must now act urgently to resource a plan to deliver a second emergency department and model 3 hospital in the Mid-West, while simultaneously expanding safe capacity at UHL.

“HIQA’s review of urgent and emergency care in the Mid-West was an important piece of work, and it has provided obvious solutions – there was always a clear need for a second emergency department in the Mid-West, given population increases and the extreme crisis at University Hospital Limerick.

“UHL desperately needs more capacity. The mistakes made when Ennis and Nenagh were downgraded cannot be repeated. September is already the worst month for trolleys at UHL ever.

"This could be the worst year yet for UHL. Personally, I would like to see Nenagh Hospital restored to a model 3 hospital with a fully functioning emergency department to service the population of North Tipperary.”

Mr. Harty said: “The Minister for Health must urgently advance all of the options outlined in this review, which has given a clinical underpinning to solutions previously outlined by local campaigners and by Sinn Féin.

"Additional capacity is needed to support the existing UHL site, and room is needed on-site for the future co-location of Limerick Maternity Hospital. There is little room for expansion at the existing site when that is taken into consideration.

“For many reasons, a second emergency department is clearly needed. The government must now
act urgently to resource a plan to deliver a second emergency department and model 3 hospital in
the Mid-West, while simultaneously expanding safe capacity at UHL.

"An additional emergency department at another hospital is the only safe option. Up to 600 more hospital beds are needed in the region and should be delivered across the two hospitals.

Mr. Harty said: “The major obstacle will be the government’s underfunding of the health service capital plan in the National Development Plan. We heard last week at the Health Committee that government will only get to planning with the three new major elective hospitals, which is a sore lack of ambition.

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"The Mid-West cannot wait that long for the government to put a plan in place for safe care across the region.

“Now is not the time for dithering or delays. The government must focus efforts to deliver the recommendations of this report as quickly as possible.

"Additional beds should be funded immediately, and urgency must be brought to the upgrading of a hospital in the region to provide a second emergency department. An urgent delivery plan is needed which includes capital funding and a workforce plan,” he said,