The Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI) has today come out in support of the HSE plans to centralise hospital services in the midwest.
A RCSI statement issued today said President Prof Frank Keane “fully supports” the HSE proposals.
“The college has long recognised that there are too many acute receiving hospitals working on a 24/7 basis in Ireland for its size and population. Reconfiguration is required so that the greatest concentration of skill mix, resources and service quality, which all contribute to patient safety, can be given to the greatest number of patients, particularly those that are severely ill or injured.”
The HSE is planning to curtail round-the-clock A&E services at Ennis and Nenagh General Hospitals from the second quarter of this year. Under the HSE plans, units' hours will be limited from about 8am to 8pm. Outside those times ambulances will take emergency patients to the Mid Western Regional Hospital in Limerick.
Prof Keane added it was appropriate that smaller hospitals “will continue to have an important role in providing for non-acute investigations, surgical care and other forms of treatment”.
The HSE intends to centralise all acute surgery for the midwest region at the Mid Western Regional Hospital from July 1st.
He said the RCSI was “sensitive to the concerns of health workers and communities who feel exposed and vulnerable during this kind of reconfiguration” and called for the programme to be “adequately resourced and managed with sensitivity”.
“While supporting this programme, this college remains extremely concerned about the provision of services in the major hospitals where Accident & Emergency Departments continue to be overwhelmed on an ongoing basis and where patients who require elective surgical operations cannot be adequately managed within the health service in a timely and predictable manner,” Prof Keane said.
The RCSI is the recognised training body for surgery in Ireland and provides undergraduate and postgraduate training and education.
