Mid-Western one of worst performing hospitals

The HSE Healthstat survey of 29 hospitals says services at the Mid-Western required urgent attention, writes GORDON DEEGAN

The HSE Healthstat survey of 29 hospitals says services at the Mid-Western required urgent attention, writes GORDON DEEGAN

THE MID-WESTERN Regional Hospital in Limerick and three other hospitals have been found to be the worst performing hospitals in the State.

Last night, the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation’s industrial relations officer, Mary Fogarty, blamed the enormous pressures brought about by the reconfiguration of health services in the midwest as the chief reason for the hospital appearing as one of the lowest ranked hospitals for the second month running.

Along with Mid-Western Regional Hospital, the latest HSE Healthstat survey of 29 hospitals has also placed Cork University Hospital, University College Hospital Galway and Mallow General Hospital as the worst performing.

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In the green, amber and red marking system, Healthstat has given the four hospitals an overall “red”, meaning that the hospitals’ services are unsatisfactory and require urgent attention.

The Healthstat results show that the top performing hospitals in the State are St James’s Hospital, Dublin; Cavan General Hospital; Letterkenny General Hospital; Wexford General Hospital and St Vincent’s University Hospital, Dublin.

Over the past 18 months, the HSE has been centralising acute services in the midwest at Limerick by ending 24-hour emergency departments and withdrawing acute surgical services at Ennis and Nenagh hospitals.

The HSE is continuing the process and is due to centralise acute medicine and cardiology services this year.

However, figures contained in the HSE Healthstat report for October show one in five patients had to wait 12-24 hours to be admitted through the Mid-Western Hospital’s emergency department – more than a doubling of the August figure.

The figures show that more than 25 per cent of patients had to wait between six and 12 hours.

Ms Fogarty said Limerick “will remain one of the worst performing hospitals until there is a rigorous management strategy to deal with all of the issues such as access”.

The HSE in the midwest declined to comment.