Alan Kelly (Tipperary, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for his reply. I live in the mid-west. The Hanly report came and went. Emergency theatres in Nenagh and St. John's Hospital in Limerick were closed. There was no plan. What happened was insane. There was insufficient capacity in Limerick from day one. Instead of standing here giving out, I shall propose some solutions and would appreciate it if the Minister of State put them to the relevant officials.

The opening hours of minor injury units need to be extended. They are open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. They could be opened for longer, particularly during the winter. St. John's Hospital in Limerick is only open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Why is it different from the other two? The protocols for accepting patients need to be broader in scope.

The second point is that there is a need to change the pathways associated with how patients are discharged. They could be discharged quickly from University Hospital Limerick to the other three hospitals.

The Nenagh clinical support and recovery unit has 17 beds, but it needs occupational therapists, a social worker, physiotherapists and speech and language therapists. Since it has 17 beds, it means that 17 patients could be moved to Nenagh. People in the general region of Tipperary would go there. The unit needs to be opened with all of the staff I have mentioned. Fifty patients in Limerick are waiting to be discharged, but there is nowhere for them to go.

With regard to winter funding, the acute medical assessment unit in University Hospital Limerick needs to be open 24/7. Also, the surgical short-stay unit needs to have longer opening hours.

Staffing is a considerable issue. The hospital has the lowest number of consultants in the entire country. This is a massive problem and disproportionate. As the Minister of State knows, it causes discharge problems because patients have to be clinically discharged by a consultant.

The medical assessment unit in Nenagh needs to be opened at weekends. The one in Ennis is open.

On a wider issue, primary care facilities in the mid-west are not up to the required standard. There are no rehabilitation beds for anybody below an elderly age. This means that there is nowhere to go for somebody in his or her thirties or forties.

Milford hospice is seeking the opening of a small number of new beds, which would be very helpful. I have said repeatedly that, for small amounts of money, we could have more intermediate vehicles to transport patients between the hospitals in the network in order that they could all work together. I have made eight or nine suggestions. I ask the Minister of State to put them to the HSE.

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