Tipperary trauma cases to bypass local hospital

VICTIMS with serious injuries from accidents occurring in north Tipperary will from this week bypass Nenagh General Hospital and be transferred directly to the major trauma centre at the Mid-Western Regional Hospital in Limerick.

A similar move will be introduced in Clare shortly when Ennis General will cease dealing with seriously injured people.

Political criticism of the move has been rejected by the HSE.

A spokesman for the HSE Mid-West said the change had the approval of consultants in Nenagh, Ennis and Limerick and was in accordance with international best practice.

He said the arrangement was supported by the Irish Medical Council. The HSE spokesman said: “The consistent advice given by all medical and paramedical experts is that all major trauma cases should be transported to the regional trauma centre in Limerick. Evidence at international and national level has shown that trauma victims have a better chance of survival and recovery when they are treated at specialist centres.”

Consultants, he said, have made it clear they were not happy with the old policy of taking major trauma cases to Ennis and Nenagh before transferring them to Limerick.

He said: “It is regrettable that the introduction of a policy designed to save lives should be caught up in local political and trade union considerations.

“National policy is perfectly clear on this subject and the policy now introduced with regard to north Tipperary will also be implemented in Clare when all the necessary arrangements and consultations have been completed.

“In the case of Clare, it is envisaged that trauma patients will be transported directly to Limerick or Galway.”

He said neither Nenagh nor Ennis hospitals meet modern standards for the treatment of major trauma cases.

He dismissed claims that ambulance personnel in north Tipperary and Clare will be placed in an impossible position having to make life and death decisions on their own.