Closure of 24-hour A&Es goes ahead

THE ENDING of 24-hour A&E services at Ennis and Nenagh general hospitals was proceeding last night without the backing of the region’s general practitioners.

Protesters gathered outside Ennis hospital for a “golden hour” vigil to mark the end of its round-the-clock A&E service at 8pm.

Ciaran O’Dea, chairman of the Ennis Hospital Development Committee, accused the Health Service Executive (HSE) of adding risk to people’s lives by closing the 24-hour service.

The curtailment of the AE service at the two hospitals follows a review by the HSE which concluded that the Mid-Western Regional Hospital should be the sole provider of a 24-hour A&E service for the region.

In Limerick last night the HSE held a meeting with GPs after the doctors demanded to know what additional supports it would provide for their out-of-hours service, Shannondoc, in light of the ending of the 24-hour A&E service.

On Sunday, the HSE agreed in talks with the Irish Nurses Organisation and Siptu to open an extra 15 beds in the regional hospital in Limerick following the change in arrangements. As a result the two unions dropped their opposition to the move.

The chairman of the Clare branch of the Irish College of General Practitioners, Dr Michael Harty, said yesterday: “Without additional supports Shannondoc will be unable to cope with the increased workload. The HSE is proceeding with the reconfiguration without any prior agreement with the GPs.”

The Irish Medical Organisation secretary for Clare, Dr Michael Kelleher, said: “We have serious concerns that what is being proposed is unsafe.” GPs feared that the reconfiguration of services was “far more to do with cutbacks than an improvement in services”.

The HSE defended the change. The clinical director of the Mid Western Hospitals Reconfiguration Project Team, consultant surgeon Paul Burke said: “The objective of the changes is to provide high-quality and safe services closer to the patient’s home where possible, while at the same time ensuring that those who require complex care can get access to it as quickly and as safely as possible.”

HSE staff wanted the patient to “receive the right care in the right place at the right time”.