The Government today accepted my Private Members Motion seeking the implementation of a range of measures aimed at reducing pressure on overcrowded Emergency Departments across the country.
Read MoreThe Taoiseach agreed with me that capacity at Ennis Hospital has to be increased as part of the solution to overcrowding at UHL. Plans drawn up a decade ago for a new block at the back of Ennis need to be resurrected.
No new acute beds will be opened in the Mid-West Region in 2023, according to figures released to Independent Clare TD Michael McNamara.
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Only 7 WTE (Fulltime /Whole-time Equivalent) healthcare professional positions in Acute Services were created at University Hospital Limerick (UHL) during 2022 despite UHL being the most overcrowded hospital in the country last year.
Read MoreDespite Minister Donnelly’s claim that 1,000 new posts have been created at University Hospital Limerick since March 2020, two recently upgraded theatres in Ennis Hospital have remained closed since before Christmas.
I asked why two recently upgraded theatres at Ennis Hospital are currently not being used when there is significant waiting lists for procedures in the Mid West.
I spoke about the healthcare crisis in the Mid West on The Tonight Show.
The Taoiseach has admitted additional resources are required for Ennis Hospital. I will continue to pursue the Government to deliver.
I attended a positive meeting about UHL yesterday with UL Hospitals Group management, the Health Minister, Taoiseach and fellow Oireachtas Midwest representatives. At long last, there was an acknowledgment that the Midwest hospital system is under-resourced compared to other regions of the State and that the Model 2 Hospitals, such as Ennis and Nenagh, are underutilised.
I spoke on RTÉ Drivetime about the need to adequately resource Ennis Hospital in light of the HSE decision to sanction ambulance paramedics to bring patients directly to the facility’s medical assessment unit.
Independent Clare TD Michael McNamara says he has received assurances from the UL Hospitals Group that the radiography service at Ennis Hospital will continue to operate at full capacity, despite almost half of the approved radiographer positions for the Clare facility remaining unfilled.
Read MoreThe number of attendances at the Medical Assessment Unit (MAU) in Ennis Hospital increased by 52% in the two years to 2021 with a further 8% increase recorded during the first five months of this year, according to figures released by the HSE in response to a Parliamentary Question from Clare Independent TD Michael McNamara.
Read MoreIndependent Clare TD Michael McNamara has called on the Government to publish the terms of reference for an expert team that is being deployed by the HSE to review the issues surrounding chronic overcrowding at University Hospital Limerick (UHL).
I spoke to Newstalk this evening about University Hospital Limerick, the most consistently overcrowded hospital in the country, and the need to develop a strategy to deliver an acceptable level of health services in the Midwest now and in the immediate future.
Clare Independent TD Michael McNamara has received confirmation from the HSE that a €9.95m capital budget allocation has been approved for a theatre upgrade at Ennis Hospital and that the project has already progressed to design stage.
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No new acute, sub-acute or ICU beds will be opened in the Midwest in 2022, according to HSE figures released to Independent Clare TD Michael McNamara.
Read MoreHIQA is to undertake inspections of the ED at University Hospital Limerick and work with hospital management to develop a strategic plan to address capacity issues. It’s important the plan has a wider scope than the approach taken up to now.
I spoke to Live 95FM about ongoing overcrowding at UHL, which is consistently the most overcrowded hospital in the State.
Independent Clare TD Michael McNamara today called for an independent investigation into ongoing overcrowding at University Hospital Limerick (UHL), where a record 111 patients were on trolleys this morning.
Addressing Taoiseach Micheal Martin during Promised legislation in Dáil Éireann today, Deputy McNamara said the exponential growth in trolley numbers at UHL was unlikely to be halted by the introduction of additional beds alone and that consideration should be given to upgrading other hospitals within the UHL Group.
Responding to Deputy McNamara, the Taoiseach said he would request the Minister for Health and the HSE to review the Clare TD’s proposal around the causes of ongoing overcrowding.
Deputy McNamara commented, “There is no clear indication as to why UHL is consistently the most overcrowded hospital in the country. I don’t know whether it is how admissions and discharges are managed in the hospital or if Ennis, Nenagh or St. Johns need to be upgraded to Model 3 Hospitals. An investigation needs to be commissioned without delay.”
A further expansion of the Medical Assessment Unit (MAU) in Ennis Hospital is currently underway with a staff recruitment process ongoing, according to Deputy Michael McNamara.
Read MoreWith more than 900,000 people on hospital waiting lists, I asked the Taoiseach to take responsibility for the implementation of Sláintecare and to examine the increased use of operating theatres in the UHL group.
A recruitment process for new staff and the expansion of the Medical Assessment Unit (MAU) in Ennis Hospital is underway, according to Michael McNamara, T.D.
Read MoreClare Independent T.D., Michael McNamara, has received confirmation from the UL Hospitals Group that a business case for a major expansion in the level of services provided at Ennis Hospital has been approved.
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Clare Independent TD, Michael McNamara has received confirmation from the HSE that a business case has been submitted for further expansion of the level of services provided at Ennis Hospital.
Read MoreFour months on from former Health Minister, Simon Harris, T.D., admitting that the Mid West has been failed for decades in terms of bed numbers, I sought an update from the HSE on hospital capacity in the region.
I questioned the HSE today on the reasons for the low number of confirmed COVID cases in hospitals despite rising cases nationally. I also asked the HSE to outline its plans to ease overcrowding at University Hospital Limerick by expanding services at Tier 2 Hospitals such as Ennis, St Johns and Nenagh.
I received confirmation from the HSE today that it is considering proposals to expand the level of services delivered from Tier 2 hospitals such as Ennis and Nenagh during the coming months.
I have called on the Minister for Health to expand the role of, and level of service provided in, Ennis, St. John’s and Nenagh Hospitals to avoid the inevitable calamity that will be UHL overcrowding.
Alan Irvine and Martin Varley of the Irish Hospital Consultants Association (IHCA) outlined today that Tier 2 hospitals have a vital and enlarged role to play in providing medical care post-COVID.