HSE ‘putting cart before the horse’ with closure date
Consultant anaesthetist Dr Michael Pead said it was his belief that “for us to stop being open 24/7… we need the ED to be replaced by an urgent care centre and a medical assessment unit.
“With these two units in place and functioning, over 80% of the patients we currently treat can continue to be treated at Mallow.”
While the HSE is planning both an urgent care centre (for walk-in patients with minor injuries) and a medical assessment unit (a fast-track alternative to the emergency department for patients who require an urgent medical assessment, led by consultants and to which GPs can make direct referrals) for Mallow, the medical assessment unit (MAU) is not scheduled to open before next spring.
Dr Pead said the hospital has effectively operated its own medical assessment unit for years — where patients are seen by consultants not junior doctors — but the space available to it is no bigger than “a cupboard”.
“It’s not the sort of space you’d expect in a modern hospital so we are very keen on an MAU with the kind of space and facilities other hospitals enjoy.”
Dr Pead made his comments yesterday afternoon as a group of protesters gathered on the hospital steps to object to the planned emergency department closure.
“I think the November date has been sprung on us a little bit and we expected Mallow to be given the tools to do the job before we lost any services, but we are not reassured that appropriate resources and beds exist in other hospitals if our ED closes,” Dr Pead said.
There was some confusion yesterday as to what exactly the HSE’s plans for Mallow are. According to its regional service plan for the HSE South, in-patient surgery was to cease in June. This has not happened. There is a statement saying the hospital will operate 12 five-day surgical beds, which appears at odds with its plan to end in-patient surgery.
Paddy Morrissey, a lifetime Labour Party supporter and member of Friends of Mallow Hospital, said they did not want to lose any services. “If they take a spoon out of MGH today, they’ll take a knife and fork tomorrow,” he said.
Mr Morrissey said Mallow hospital services a wide rural hinterland, the scene of many farming accidents, and the closure of the emergency department would be a huge blow. He said three weeks ago, a 95-year-old man was taken to Cork University Hospital under HSE ambulance bypass protocols and that he sat in a corridor for two-and-a-half days. Dr Pead said 92% of patients attending Mallow’s emergency department are seen within six hours.
