Nursing representatives say acute services at Ennis General Hospital have not been in operation for much this week due to staffing issues.
The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation say the Medical Assessment Unit at Clare’s County Hospital has been closed since Monday because of a lack of doctors, meaning patients have been travelling directly to University Hospital Limerick for emergency care.
There are 16 patients on trolleys at Dooradoyle this lunchtime, but that figure has been higher than 40 earlier this week.
INMO representative for the MidWest Mary Fogarty says this is ‘very risky’ for Clare patients.
Update: The HSE has sent the following statement following a query for Clare FM.
The Senior Doctor who was scheduled to be on duty in the Unit is off sick and it was not possible to secure a replacement. However, a doctor from Limerick was redeployed to Ennis on Thursday afternoon and the Unit re-opened.
We cannot say that the closure of the MAU in Ennis had a major impact on waiting times in Emergency Department at University Hospital Limerick over the last number of days. Pressure on emergency departments at this time of year is common in every major hospital. There is traditionally an after Christmas surge covering the entire spectrum of minor injuries/illness to more serious medical complaints eg chest and abdominal pain, shortage of breath & sepsis.
Patients with minor injury are encouraged to avail of the local injury units in Nenagh, Ennis and St John’s. All others where the presentation is not deemed to be life threatening should seek advice from their own GP in the first instance.
