MANAGEMENT AT Mercy University Hospital, Cork, have moved to assure the public that plans to reduce its emergency department from a 24-hour facility to a 12-hour facility will not be implemented until other facilities are put in place to allow for the change.
Under a reconfiguration plan for the six acute hospitals in Cork and Kerry published last week by the HSE South, the Mercy will see its emergency department change from its current position of operating 24 hours a day, seven days a week to a 12-hour facility.
And under the Reconfiguration Roadmap, the Mercy will also operate a Urgent Care Centre (UCC) on a 12-hour basis for patients with minor injuries such as suspected fractures and lacerations while the hospital will also operate an Acute Medical Assessment Unit.
But amid public concerns that the changes would take immediate effect, management at the Mercy have moved to assure members of the public that the hospital’s emergency department will remain open until the end of 2011 to assess the impact of the other changes.
Mercy University Hospital’s chief executive, Pat Madden, said a new Acute Medicine Assessment Unit (AMAU) would be set up at the hospital in 2011. This unit would provide rapid assessment, diagnosis, stabilisation, early treatment, observation and, if necessary, admission for patients referred by their GP.
The Mercy would also establish an Urgent Care Centre within the grounds of St Mary’s Orthopaedic Hospital in Gurranebraher on Cork’s northside as an off-satellite of the Mercy’s emergency department, he added.
Both these developments will allow the Mercy’s emergency department to focus on looking after the seriously sick and injured as patients being dealt with appropriately in the AMAU and UCC will mean less waiting times and less overcrowding in the emergency department.
The Mercy’s emergency department would remain open 24 hours a day, seven days a week until the end of 2011 when its opening times may be adjusted to take into account the positive impact of both the new AMAU and UCC on attendances at the emergency department, he explained.
“In the meantime, the HSE will provide financial support to develop the Acute Medicine Assessment Unit and Urgent Care Centre,” said Mr Madden, adding that Mercy University Hospital would work with other hospitals to achieve an integrated hospital network in the region.
“The report acknowledges Mercy University Hospital as a regional healthcare provider for a number of specialties and secures the future of the hospital. We will work in partnership with other hospitals to achieve a unified integrated acute hospital service in the region,” he said.
