Tipperary's Health Forum members to meet HSE and hospital senior staff on crisis

University Hospital Limerick management and senior members of the HSE are due to meet the Tipperary, Clare and Limerick members of the Regional Health Forum on July 19.

This meeting was called on the back of a motion submitted by the Mid-West Hospital Campaign Group to the Regional Health Forum in May, which called for the upgrading of local hospitals and the reopening of the emergency departments at Nenagh, Ennis and St John’s in Limerick.

The motion, which had cross-party support was unanimously carried. The request for a follow up meeting with management was made by representatives to the forum, Cllr Seamus Morris and Cllr Liam Grant.

Damian O’Donoghue of the The Mid-West Hospital Campaign has called on all members of the forum to use this opportunity to advance the case to upgrade Nenagh Hospital to a model 3, which would mean the return of the 24/7 Emergency Department.

In response to the recent damning Hiqa report, UHL management submitted measures which should be taken in the short, medium and long term to bring the hospital back into compliance with the three standards they were found to be non-compliant with - patient dignity, protecting patients from risk of harm, organising the workforce - and one standard they were found to be partially compliant with, effective management.

In relation to patient dignity and effective management, UHL management, in their response, noted twice the absence of a Model 3 hospital within the UL hospital group and committed “to explore the provision of a Model 3 to support the Model 4”.

The centre of excellence promised in 2009 had not materialised and neither had safer patient outcomes. This was evident from the Hiqa findings published on June 17, he said.

“The reconfiguration strategy has most certainly failed and this has now been acknowledged by the Minister of Health,” said Mr O’Donoghue.

He pointed out that the latest census data showed there were now over 70,000 people living in north Tipperary yet there was no 24-hour emergency health provision in the area.

“Nenagh should never have been downgraded. There is an opportunity now to right that wrong,” he said.

Mr O’Donoghue said that using Nenagh Hospital as the first point of contact for the people of north Tipperary meant that emergency cases would reach hospital sooner within the “golden hour”.

Some less serious cases need never end up at UHL, ensuring space and timely intervention for those who needed more critical care, he said.