Máire Hoctor (Tipperary North, Fianna Fail)

It will mean that patients will be able to quickly access specialist care. These arrangements will be kept under ongoing review to ensure that they are working as intended and that patients are enabled to access the care they need as quickly as possible.

The shortcomings of the existing accident and emergency arrangements in Ennis and Nenagh and the small patient numbers involved have been set out. The restructuring of services will therefore involve full accident and emergency care being provided from the Regional Hospital, Limerick, supported by Ennis and Nenagh which will have medically supervised local emergency centres for non-major emergencies, minor injuries and self-referred medical problems. These will be open for approximately 12 hours per day and will operate under agreed governance structures and protocols. Governance structures are not in place at present in Nenagh and Ennis with regard to the accident and emergency physicians. They are doing a very good job but governance is not in place and that is not sustainable for the future in the interests of patient safety.

I appreciate that people are concerned about services for those who fall seriously ill or are involved in an accident in areas further away from the regional centre in Limerick. The key to quality emergency and trauma management is pre-hospital care that enables life-saving treatment to be provided quickly to patients. Stabilisation can be carried out by advanced paramedics who travel quickly to the patient. Six of these staff, with specially equipped emergency response cars, are being deployed in north Tipperary and six in County Clare in the coming months.

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