Hospital deny staff reason for A&E delay
Cork’s Mercy University Hospital (MUH) said its A&E project is on schedule. However, a spokesman was unable to say when it would open.
Fine Gael TD Bernard Allen dismissed the assurances and said as far as he was concerned, staffing issues were to blame for the delay in opening the unit.
“I am satisfied there are staffing issues stalling this project. It’s time for the Health Service Executive (HSE) to stop this double-talk and bluff,” he said.
“There are staffing problems, and delays as a result. This will be a great new unit but we need it open.”
A spokesman for MUH said the building of the unit has been completed and that the hospital has begun equipping and commissioning the facility.
“It will offer better working conditions for existing staff and allow the hospital to introduce new models of care, including the creation of an advanced nurse practitioner post,” he said.
This position will involve senior nurses dealing with many of the minor injuries which present at A&Es without having to consult with doctors, freeing up doctors to deal with the more serious A&E cases.
“These developments are currently the subject of discussions between the hospital and various representative organisations and these are progressing satisfactorily,” the spokesman said.
MUH’s existing A&E facility in the heart of Cork city caters for up to 25,000 admissions every year.
The new state-of-the-art A&E unit will have the capacity to cater for 30,000 patients a year.
It has two separate areas — one for arrivals by ambulance and one for those who present themselves.
It has a large patient waiting area, a triage area where people are assessed and prioritised, a three-bay minor treatment area, one of which will be geared specifically for children, a spacious 10-bay major treatment area and a two-bay resuscitation room with a neighbouring X-ray suite.
It has observation facilities for patients with head injuries or those suffering from drug overdoses.
There is also a section to provide accommodation for relatives of the critically ill or injured in a quiet private room with washing and tea-making facilities.
The fact that there is a separate waiting area for children is a welcome feature of the new facility, the spokesman said.
The new unit, the result of seven years of collaboration between the hospital, HSE and the Department of Health, is to open sometime this year to coincide with the hospital’s 150th anniversary celebrations.
It will be one of three A&E centres in Cork city — at MUH, Cork University Hospital and the South Infirmary.
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