Results 45,721-45,740 of 49,836 for speaker:Stephen Donnelly

Committee on Public Petitions: Reopening of Ennis, Nenagh and St. John's Emergency Departments: Discussion (23 May 2024)

Stephen Donnelly: Sorry to interrupt the Deputy, could I ask which-----

Committee on Public Petitions: Reopening of Ennis, Nenagh and St. John's Emergency Departments: Discussion (23 May 2024)

Stephen Donnelly: Yes, sorry.

Committee on Public Petitions: Reopening of Ennis, Nenagh and St. John's Emergency Departments: Discussion (23 May 2024)

Stephen Donnelly: I thank the Deputy for the questions. In terms of senior decision-makers on site, it was my experience when I started visiting UHL that there were not senior decision-makers rostered on site out of hours and at the weekends. When I spoke to the nurses in the emergency department and the non-consultant hospital doctors, NCHDs, they said their single biggest concern was being left from Friday...

Committee on Public Petitions: Reopening of Ennis, Nenagh and St. John's Emergency Departments: Discussion (23 May 2024)

Stephen Donnelly: I am sorry. Deputy Lowry asked if the decision was going to be overturned. I can categorically say that it will not be overturned. This is a patient safety issue. I know Deputy Kelly has been talking to various people but this is a decision that has been made. It is not up for review. We have to do it to keep people, including people from Tipperary and Nenagh, safe should they to go the...

Committee on Public Petitions: Reopening of Ennis, Nenagh and St. John's Emergency Departments: Discussion (23 May 2024)

Stephen Donnelly: I beg the Deputy's pardon but will he say that again? I was just taking a note on his previous question.

Committee on Public Petitions: Reopening of Ennis, Nenagh and St. John's Emergency Departments: Discussion (23 May 2024)

Stephen Donnelly: I thank the Senator very much. The HIQA reforms will be informed entirely by HIQA looking at the data. It will look at the population and population densities. I imagine it will do a lot of interviews with front-line clinicians. I have no doubt it will engage with the HSE. It will conduct an independent expert review. I very deliberately asked HIQA to do this rather than any other body....

Committee on Public Petitions: Reopening of Ennis, Nenagh and St. John's Emergency Departments: Discussion (23 May 2024)

Stephen Donnelly: You could have both. HIQA is entirely independent. It is the independent regulator. Will it discuss these matters with people like the Senator? He and I have talked about Clare and the mid-west every week for several years. He has been making the case for more investment in UHL and the region, including in his own county, for years. I imagine that HIQA will listen to elected...

Committee on Public Petitions: Reopening of Ennis, Nenagh and St. John's Emergency Departments: Discussion (23 May 2024)

Stephen Donnelly: She is in there and she is working with the clinical body to try to change things. I will give the Senator one very quick observation. I have been in all of the emergency departments around the country, both those that are working well and those that are not. From what I hear from our clinicians, the single biggest difference between those that are doing well and those that are not is...

Committee on Public Petitions: Reopening of Ennis, Nenagh and St. John's Emergency Departments: Discussion (23 May 2024)

Stephen Donnelly: Considering the scale of the amount of money we are putting into UHL, that would be a very modest investment. There would be no problem with that.

Committee on Public Petitions: Reopening of Ennis, Nenagh and St. John's Emergency Departments: Discussion (23 May 2024)

Stephen Donnelly: I will make a quick point and then I will ask Dr. McNamara to come in specifically on that operational aspect of the emergency department. I have met the emergency department team in UHL many times. I have been blown away by their dedication to their patients and the fact that they are working at it. They believe things can get better with this additional capacity of more doctors, more...

Committee on Public Petitions: Reopening of Ennis, Nenagh and St. John's Emergency Departments: Discussion (23 May 2024)

Stephen Donnelly: I thank the Senator. I have seen the reports and the clinical advice that said the emergency departments at the time were unsafe. HIQA stated that these were simply not safe to run. That will have been in part due to the scale of the hospitals behind them and the need for multidisciplinary care. Where I believe the mistake was made was not investing the kind of capacity that we are...

Committee on Public Petitions: Reopening of Ennis, Nenagh and St. John's Emergency Departments: Discussion (23 May 2024)

Stephen Donnelly: I think my time is up as well, Deputy. I will give a short answer and revert to the Deputy with a note on some of them. Dr. Henry can give a view on the medical assessment units and when they will move to 24-7. There has been a 23% increase in staff numbers in Ennis. When I asked staff in Ennis whether we should consider having a 24-7 local injury unit there, they said absolutely not...

Committee on Public Petitions: Reopening of Ennis, Nenagh and St. John's Emergency Departments: Discussion (23 May 2024)

Stephen Donnelly: If the two members put their questions, I will stay and answer them together.

Committee on Public Petitions: Reopening of Ennis, Nenagh and St. John's Emergency Departments: Discussion (23 May 2024)

Stephen Donnelly: I am sorry, Senator, but I cannot do so. I was meant to be gone by 3 p.m. In fairness to the other witnesses, a Chathaoirligh, it would not be appropriate for me to just head off and leave them.

Committee on Public Petitions: Reopening of Ennis, Nenagh and St. John's Emergency Departments: Discussion (23 May 2024)

Stephen Donnelly: In response to Deputy Murphy, those 239 patients should have had a bed. They should not have been on a chair or trolley in an ED. There may of course be people who are in active treatment in an ED, be it in resuscitation or whatever, who die. As Dr. McNamara said, we do not have a breakdown of the different categories of those. Inevitably, there will be people who die in active treatment...

Committee on Public Petitions: Reopening of Ennis, Nenagh and St. John's Emergency Departments: Discussion (23 May 2024)

Stephen Donnelly: It is something we have looked at. We were in the middle of a significant increase in capacity in the hospital. The increased capacity and reforms worked in a lot of other hospitals. If we had been sitting here this time last year, forgive me if the figure is wrong, but I think there was a reduction of approximately 16% in trolleys and a significant reduction in waiting lists. It was...

Committee on Public Petitions: Reopening of Ennis, Nenagh and St. John's Emergency Departments: Discussion (23 May 2024)

Stephen Donnelly: Not at all. I think everyone accepted that, first, HIQA is made up of independent experts. It is good at these things. Second, this is a live and political issue in the mid-west. Senator Gavan has been shouting in here today. I have no doubt there are people who would have accused either the Department or the HSE of being politicised and not being able to do independent work.

Committee on Public Petitions: Reopening of Ennis, Nenagh and St. John's Emergency Departments: Discussion (23 May 2024)

Stephen Donnelly: I would not read too much into the timing of a Dáil response. We have asked the six regional executive officers to look at capacity and configuration in their regions, as the Senator would expect us to do.

Committee on Public Petitions: Reopening of Ennis, Nenagh and St. John's Emergency Departments: Discussion (23 May 2024)

Stephen Donnelly: Not at all. HIQA is looking at one question, which is urgent and emergency care in the region, including whether or not there is a case for second emergency department in a model 3 hospital. Sandra Broderick, along with the other REOs, is carrying out a capacity review of her region. That will include how general practice, primary care and radiology are going, and how they are doing in...

Committee on Public Petitions: Reopening of Ennis, Nenagh and St. John's Emergency Departments: Discussion (23 May 2024)

Stephen Donnelly: I can. In April or May last year, the number of patients on trolleys in UHL was falling. The number of patients on waiting lists was falling. The staff and the number of beds were growing. There was a lot of encouragement and positivity in the hospital about the fact that the first 96-bed block was starting. Primary care centres were being opened. Croom had just had a hugely successful...