HEAD of the June bank holiday weekend, HSE Mid West is encouraging the public to familiarise themselves with all community and hospital options available to meet their healthcare needs.
The call comes as the Iish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) released figures showing that the ED at University Hospital Limerick (UHL) was the most overcrowded in the country last month and nearly 10,000 patients have been treated on trolleys there since the start of the year.
A statement said GP out-of-hours services and pharmacies may be more helpful to consider instead of presenting at the Emergency Department at University Hospital Limerick (UHL). GPs can also refer appropriate patients to the medical assessment units which are open seven days a week at Ennis, Nenagh and St John’s hospitals.
Shannondoc Out of Hours GP Services will operate for the duration of the bank holiday weekend and can be contacted on 0818 123 500.
“Additional staff are rostered across hospital and community services to help ensure patient access care across the weekend. Community intervention team services will operate from 8am-8pm daily. Planned essential weekend nursing services provide support to patients discharged prior to the weekend and to those who require clinical interventions,” the statement said.
Hospitals have enhanced and expanded local access to urgent care facilities and medical assessments units as an alternate pathway to ED. The injury units and medical assessment units in Ennis, Nenagh and St John’s Hospitals are managing approximately 1,200 patients per week.
Injury Units operate 8am-8pm for walk-in treatment of minor injuries such as breaks, sprains and burns. Patients are typically seen and treated in under two hours. No appointment is needed and anyone referred by a GP you will not have to pay the €75 fee.
St. John’s Injury Unit (8am-8pm), Limerick City, 061 462132
Ennis Injury Unit (8am-8pm), 065 686 3121
Nenagh Injury Unit (8am-8pm), 067 42311
Medical Assessment Units are open 16 hours a day, 8am to 12 midnight, seven days a week. They provide a direct referral pathway for GPs to secure prompt assessment and treatment of medical patients who otherwise might have presented to Limerick ED.
“The Emergency Department at UHL is open 24/7 for the most acute and life-threatening conditions. With the ED continuing to experience high attendances in the run-up to the holiday weekend, we are working to maximise patient flow in our acute hospitals and across the healthcare system in the region,” the spokesman said.
