Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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The HSE National Emergency Medicine Programme (EMP) Model of Care includes the development of Injury Units, allowing for the safe provision of care for many injuries that are unlikely to require same-day hospital admission.

Approximately 130,000 patients attend 12 Local Injury Units (LIUs) in the country each year. They are designed to provide the same level of care as would be available at an Emergency Department (ED), but more locally and with a shorter waiting time. This care includes direct referral to specialties such as Orthopaedics or Plastic Surgery. A named Consultant in Emergency Medicine in an ED provides the clinical governance and other professional supports to an Injury Unit. Injury Units also require access to appropriate clinical space and on-site access to x-ray facilities.

A HSE review of Injury Units and Medical Assessment Units looked in detail at the activity, capacity, staffing and operations of existing Units across the Model 2 Hospitals, as well as areas having the most potential need for additional injury units. An Implementation Plan for the recommendations from the review is now being developed.

The HSE will be considering this and other recommendations as part of the implementation plan for Injury Units. Implementation will be subject to resource and other considerations.