THE MERCY University Hospital in Cork yesterday opened its new €4.7 million emergency department. The facility had lain idle for the past 20 months due to a dispute with the HSE over staffing levels.
The hospital's chief executive, Pat Madden said the new facility represented a major advance in patient care in Cork city and confirmed that it would operate on a 24/7 basis with a capacity to treat up to 35,000 patients annually.
The facility, located on the ground floor of the hospital's newer building, is three times the size of the old emergency department and includes 10 treatment cubicles, an observation room, an isolation room and a paediatric treatment area.
"We now have moved into a modern, purpose-built suite of treatment facilities, equipped with the latest technologies. The new department is much more in keeping with best practice and meets patient expectations," said Mr Madden. "I am delighted that our staff, who have been working in totally inadequate conditions in our former department, now have the appropriate environment and facilities," he said, adding that the new unit would be staffed by the same complement as the old unit.
This comprises 18 nurses, 10 doctors and 17 support staff. Mr Madden confirmed that parts of the new facility would not open due to a lack of funding to hire additional personnel.
Among the areas remaining cordoned off was a nurse triage area and a self-contained resuscitation area which together would require a minimum of eight or nine extra personnel at a cost of €500,000 per year to run, he said.
"MUH has always had an innovative approach to the provision of emergency services and it is disappointing that our vision of the kind of optimum service that could be provided at the new emergency department cannot be delivered at this point.
"We had hoped the services would have included the availability of an advanced nurse practitioner to fasttrack minor injuries, allied health practitioners such as a physiotherapist, occupational therapist, social worker and GP liaison support.
"These additional services cannot now be provided in the new facilities but may be introduced at a later stage, on a phased basis, depending on the level of HSE support provided," Mr Madden said.