'Plans to cut A&E services dangerous'

Plans to end overnight A&E services at two hospitals in Nenagh and Ennis were today denounced as dangerous.

The Labour Party said the proposal could flounder under the pressure of funding cutbacks and end up incomplete.

The Health Service Executive (HSE) confirmed its intention to limit emergency care at both hospitals between 8am and 8pm later this year.

In a report, it outlines the plans to centralise A&E services at Limerick’s Mid Western Regional Hospital for patients needing attention during the night.

Labour Party Senator Alan Kelly said the move was estimated to cost €370m, and pressing ahead with the plans would be reckless while the public finances are in poor shape.

“It is my prediction – and this is a very dangerous situation – that if the HSE pursue with this strategy they could end up in a half-developed situation, which would be the most dangerous of all,” he said.

“Because we will have services that haven’t been finalised [in Limerick] and we’ll have hospitals in Ennis and in Nenagh performing absolutely fantastically, at a lower cost per patient than in Limerick, and the service will be taken away from them.”

Senator Kelly also criticised the HSE for releasing the report yesterday evening after the Labour Party announced its intention to publicise it today.

“Not alone are the recommendations dangerous but the manner in which they have dealt with it has been quite underhand and sly,” he said.

“In the report that I have, the initial report, it said there was a requirement for €370m in capital to put in place this strategy. I don’t know where that’s going to be got.”

But Junior Health Minister Maire Hoctor insisted the plans would go ahead as the demand was not there for 24-hour services in Ennis and in Nenagh.

“It is in the best interests of patient safety,” she said.

The HSE study shows an average of 7.5 people seek A&E treatment at Nenagh during the night, with 9.2 presenting in Ennis.

Most of the cases are self-referred and could be dealt with by GPs, according to the report.

Ms Hoctor said services will remain at the two hospitals until new services are put in place at Limerick.

Separately, the number of patients on trolleys at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda has reached a record high, the Irish Nurses Organisation (INO) said today.

There were 40 people on trolleys waiting for in-patient beds in the emergency department this morning – 15 of whom have been waiting since Friday night.

Ambulances are being delayed at the hospital due to a shortage of trolleys while staff are at breaking point, according to INO industrial relations officer Tony Fitzpatrick.

“This crisis is a result of mistakes made in the past where services provided at other hospitals in the North East were transferred to Drogheda without putting resources and infrastructure in place to cope with the extra demands being put on the hospital,” he said.