Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I would like to thank Senator Conway for raising this matter. The Government remains fully committed to improving services in Ennis and the mid-west region. The Minister for Health has engaged extensively with the University of Limerick Hospitals Group and the HSE. He has announced a series of measures to increase capacity and improve services across the region, including over the last 48 hours and including in Ennis Hospital.

The smaller hospital framework, which was published in 2013, provided a stronger role for smaller hospitals like Ennis Hospital. They are delivering higher volumes of less complex care, in many cases closer to patients’ homes. This ensures that patients who require true emergency or complex planned care are managed safely in a larger hospital environment. Ennis Hospital provides inpatient medical beds, a medical assessment unit, MAU; a local injuries unit, LIU; and day surgery. Patients are admitted to Ennis Hospital via the MAU injury unit and transfers from UHL for step-down care.

There has been significant investment in the mid-west model 2 hospitals in recent years, with budgets increasing in all three hospitals. The total 2024 budget for all three hospitals is €350 million. Staffing levels in Ennis Hospital have increased from 235 whole-time equivalents in December to 290 in March of this year. This represents a 23% increase in staffing. There was €1.57 million allocated in 2023 to recruit an additional 19.95 whole-time equivalents to extend the opening hours of the MAU at Ennis Hospital to 12 hours a day, seven days a week. This investment has enabled attendance at the MAU to increase from 6,228 in 2020 to 7,735 in 2022.

Recently announced measures will see the opening hours extending to 24-7 on a phased basis. In terms of capital infrastructure investment, Ennis Hospital received €2 million for a new purpose-built LIU, which opened in 2022. This unit has managed a 32% increase in LIU attendances from 11,517 in 2019 to 15,245 in 2023. Also in 2022, the new outpatient department was equipped including an X-ray room and other diagnostics at a cost of €1.29 million.

To come to the Senator’s point, work is under way to establish a haemodialysis service in Ennis. The HSE has advised that this service is proposed to be operational towards the end of 2025.The HSE has also advised that a preferred supplier has been identified for this externally contracted service. The Minister continues to work closely with the HSE to ensure that Ennis Hospital and the University of Limerick Hospitals Group are fully supported in respect of the delivery of healthcare services for the region.