Submission Lodged With HIQA For Ennis General To Be Upgraded To Model 3 Hospital

Clare FM

A submission calling for Ennis General Hospital to be equipped with an Emergency Department has been lodged with the Health Information and Quality Authority. It comes as HIQA has commenced it's indpendent review to determine reforms to emergency and urgent care reform in the MidWest. Clare FM's Daragh Dolan Reports === The 30-page document compiled by the Friends of Ennis Hospital Campaign group claims "the fastest, most cost efficient and logical way to provide a second ED in the Midwest region is by upgrading Ennis from Model 2 to Model 3 status." The submission points to failures of the HSE's reconfiguration fifteen years ago, which resulted in the closure of A&Es at Ennis, Nenagh and St.Johns in favour of a centre of excellence at University Hospital Limerick. Overcrowding has grown exponentially at UHL since, rising from 2,422 patients being recorded on trolleys in 2009 to a record high of 21,445 last year. According to HIQA, UHL operated at 105% capacity in 2022 and last year the hospital was forced to implement it's overcrowding protocol every single day. The submission claims that existing healthcare studies show the longer a patient remains on a trolley the higher the risk of death or permanent lifelong health issues, while on February 7th this year, a new overcrowding record of 150 patients on trolleys was set at UHL. In 2023, a total of 239 patients died at the Emergency Department in UHL, which is 20% above that of any other hospital on the Western Seaboard. The document also shows that in the MidWest, there is just one ED to serve a population of over 431,059, while in the next most affected healthcare area of Cork and Kerry, theres one ED for every 246,871. The campaign group then goes on to outline why a new ED shoule be located in Ennis General specifically, rather than in Limerick, Tipperary or on a greenfield site. It points to the fact that Clare is the only county in Munster and the only county in the country with an Internantional Airport not to have an ED and that over 1million tourists visit local attractions annually. The presentation also shows the Community Healthcare Network of West Clare which is predominantly rural, has the greatest population of any CHN in the region at over 76,000 and that the majority of it's population are living beyond a 45-minute travel time to UHL, which it claims would be rectified with an ED in Ennis. Last year, Ennis also had by far the highest number of attendances at it's Medical Assessment Unit, with over 7,000 patients treated; which is more than the combined total of Nenagh and St.Johns. The Friends of Ennis Hospital Group also points to the cost efficiencies of upgrading the existing hospital to a model 3, outlining that since 2021, the HSE has invested €3.3m in its Local Injury Unit and Outpatient Department. Chairperson Angela Coll insists enhancing Ennis will solve legacy problems in the MidWest.