The number of attendances at the Medical Assessment Unit (MAU) at Ennis Hospital jumped by 52% in the last two years to 2021, according to figures obtained by Independent county Clare TD, Michael McNamara.
Average bed numbers at Ennis Hospital in county Clare, which is managed by UL Hospitals Group, remain unchanged since February 2020, while there has been a drop in the number of beds for patients at St. John’s Hospital in Limerick and University Maternity Hospital Limerick.
Deputy McNamara has welcomed the ‘ongoing investment in services’ at the hospital, and noted that the MAU now has the capacity to see 32 patients daily on weekdays, and 18 patients daily at weekends.
The Clare TD revealed that the number of attendances at the MAU at Ennis Hospital rose from 3,740 in 2019 to 5,673 in 2021. He pointed out that one non-consultant hospital doctor (NCHD), one cardiology technician, three nurses and one clerical staff member had been recently appointed at Ennis – noting that the appointments should help with the ongoing expansion of services and the rise in attendances.
The MAU at Ennis Hospital provides diagnosis and treatment of patients who have been referred with medical conditions including chest infections, COPD, pneumonia, urinary tract infections, fainting episodes, clots in the leg, anaemia, or non-acute cardiac problems. Roughly 10 percent of cases may require hospital admission, while the majority of attendees will be discharged with a follow-up review at the unit within 48 hours.
The Independent TD stated:
“The Ennis MAU is the only such service in the UL Hospitals Group that has been open on a seven-day basis since 2016. Its hours of operations during weekdays are also longer than in either Nenagh or St. John’s. This is in part due to the excellent relationships that have been developed between the staff in Ennis Hospital and the GP community across Clare. The impact of the MAU on reducing the flow of people that otherwise would have attended UHL is unknown, but it is likely that the unit is helping to reduce some pressure on the region’s largest hospital.”
Deputy McNamara called on the HSE to review bed capacity at the hospital. He said:
“The average number of beds open at Ennis has remained static since the beginning of 2020. In response to my Parliamentary Question, the HSE confirmed that the average number of acute beds at the hospital was just 50 in May 2022, the same figure reported in February 2020.
“There has been no significant improvement in bed capacity at the other Tier 2 Hospitals within the UL Hospital Group. Nenagh Hospital average acute bed numbers went from 49 to 52 in the same period, while St. John’s Hospital in Limerick saw its average drop from 87 to 76. Meanwhile, University Maternity Hospital Limerick recorded a drop from its average number of open beds drop from 102 to 101.”
“The lack of investment in capacity over the past two years comes at a time when no new acute, sub-acute or ICU beds will be opened in the Midwest, including at University Hospital Limerick, in 2022. The provision of additional bed capacity on its own will not resolve the overcrowding problems at University Hospital Limerick (UHL), but the delivery of new acute, sub-acute and ICU beds across the region should certainly be part of the solution,” Deputy McNamara concluded.