Mid West ambulance change is 'a step in the right direction'

'The hospital in Ennis will be accepting ambulances from 999 calls for the first time since the A&E closed in 2011,' said local councillor Cillian Murphy. File picture: Larry Cummins

Changes to ambulance protocols for the midwest have been described as a “small step in the right direction” towards easing the overcrowding crisis at University Hospital Limerick (UHL).

From Monday, paramedics can bring some patients to Ennis Hospital in Co Clare instead of the under-pressure UHL.

Earlier this week, consultant physician and geriatrician at UHL, Declan Lyons, spoke of an elderly Clare man brought by ambulance to UHL, passing Ennis hospital en route, only to spend three days on a trolley before being moved to Ennis anyway.

Fianna Fáil councillor for West Clare Cillian Murphy, a member of the regional health forum, said: 

“The hospital in Ennis will be accepting ambulances from 999 calls for the first time since the A&E closed in 2011, which is very positive — a small step, but it is a small step in the right direction.”

Mr Murphy said there is an urgent need for changes to the ambulance service to ease the pressure on the region.

“If our ambulance leaves the base in Kilrush and has to go on a call to Limerick, it can be gone for almost all of the shift,” he said.

“Sometimes ambulances can be called from Limerick to attend a call in North Cork or Tipperary because they happen to be the closest ambulance at the time.

We had an incident before Christmas where a lady was on the floor for six and a half hours waiting for an ambulance in Kilrush. The ambulance was gone. 

Paramedics can contact doctors at the Medical Assessment Unit (MAU) at Ennis hospital by phone to make referrals, a HSE spokeswoman said.

It follows a pilot programme in North Cork through Mallow General Hospital last year.

“It allows stable medical patients that meet the agreed clinical criteria to be treated in a Model 2 hospital,” the HSE spokeswoman said.

“This pathway will result in patients receiving medical treatment in a hospital closer to their home, will reduce patient presentations to emergency departments, and will release ambulances more quickly.”

UHL is continuing to apply emergency measures to combat overcrowding. Patients have been moved to Croom Orthopaedic Hospital, with surge beds opened in Ennis, Nenagh, and St John’s hospitals, a spokesman said.

The “extreme overcrowding” has reduced but the spokesperson cautioned: “We expect we will continue to see high numbers of attendances at our ED and high numbers of admitted patients waiting for beds to continue into the coming weeks.”

It is understood the medical assessment unit at St John’s is considering extending opening hours from five days to seven days.

The HSE has continued to urge people to attend GPs or other services instead of emergency departments, if appropriate.

However, GPs have expressed concern about how this advice is being communicated.

Irish Medical Organisation GP committee chair Dr Denis McCauley said: “I think this is a dangerous thing to be saying.”

They should be saying if your illness can be seen by the GP then do that, but if you feel that it can’t, then go to hospital.

“You don’t want to stop people going to casualty (A&E) who should be going to casualty.”