Thurles Information

The HSE chief for acute hospitals in the mid-west has confirmed that they plan to go ahead with plans to close the facilities at both Nenagh and Ennis General Hospitals.
John Hennessy also confirmed that certain acute medicine services will also be transferred from Nenagh and Ennis to the mid western regional hospital in Limerick.
He denied however that this was a further downgrading of services at Nenagh and Ennis.

Fine Gael’s Deputy Noel Coonan has again expressed deep concern that the Hospital is becoming a shadow of its former self as it is continuously stripped of services that are traditional to any hospital.

Nenagh Hospital

The Fine Gael TD was reacting to a HSE announcement that the Intensive Care Unit in Nenagh Hospital will close in 2010 and other acute medical services will be transferred to the Mid Western Regional Hospital in Limerick.

“Nenagh General Hospital has already lost too many vital services and now it’s losing its Intensive Care Unit along with other acute medical services. Transferring the A and E department from Nenagh to Limerick was heralded as a genius idea but we recently saw nurses at the Mid Western Regional Hospital in Limerick go on strike because of overcrowding at the facility. This was partly due to the closure of the A and E in Nenagh and subsequent overflow of patients coming from North Tipperary to Limerick.

It’s clear that the hospital at Dooradoyle is struggling and the HSE is putting a further burden on the facility by transferring more services from both Nenagh and Ennis hospitals. If this is the concerned reaction of front line staff who are worried for patient safety, I want to know what plans HSE management have to deal with the overcrowding issue?

Nenagh Hospital is not a hospital in the traditional meaning of the word. Minister Harney is no longer even a member of a political party yet she controls the HSE which is one of the most important bodies in the country. This time last year, the hospital had in excess of 100 beds but today there are only 52 inpatient beds available.”

Deputy Coonan previously asked when the new surgical theatres promised for Nenagh Hospital will materialise, as promised in the Mid-West reconfiguration programme.

“It’s important that there is no delay in providing the theatre facilities because they are essential to the continued survival of Nenagh Hospital,” concluded Deputy Coonan.

Recent alarming statistics released show that the number of people waiting more than six months for a test to detect if they have bowel cancer has risen and the number of patients in the Mid Western Regional Hospital, Limerick has more than tripled, from 23 to 72, since September last.

Visitor admissions have been severely restricted at Nenagh General Hospital, Co.Tipperary following an outbreak of the Winter Vomiting Virus.

All persons wishing to visit are asked to contact hospital staff before entering any of the wards.

We understand that at least five cases of the virus have been confirmed.

The Norovirus usually lasts only two to three days, however it is highly infectious and can be considered extremely unpleasant, as symptoms include projectile vomiting, diarrhoea and abdominal pain.
Outbreaks of norovirus infection often occur in closed or semi-closed communities, such as long-term care facilities, overnight camps, hospitals, prisons, dormitories, and cruise ships etc where the infection spreads very rapidly.

The illness is highly infectious and can be spread by:
-Direct contact with vomit or diarrhoea.
-From someone who is ill, especially if personal hygiene is not good.
-From the air around someone who has just vomited.
-From contaminated food.

Anyone affected should drink plenty of fluids and maintain strict hygiene levels.

Infection control measures are now firmly in place at Nenagh Hospital.

The Health Service Executive (HSE) cannot reuse its crutches and walking aids due to health and safety reasons.

No this is not a joke, the HSE has confirmed that this year it will spend €16.24 million of taxpayers money on new wheelchairs, crutches and walking aids in the Western HSE region.

The spend this year represents an 8 per cent rise on the €15 million spent on these aids just last year, to service the counties of Donegal, Sligo, Leitrim, Clare, Galway, Mayo, Roscommon, Limerick and our own beloved North Tipperary.

These various aids are issued to patients at no cost to their users and in most cases  clients are not requested to return same after use.

With the HSE now facing cuts of over €1 billion, which will affect front line services in this above stated region, one must now ask the question, “Is there anyone in this green island still capable of keeping an eye on the shop”?

Useful Hint For HSE Management: Our local Supermarkets look for a €2 deposit to borrow a trolley for shopping, with same being fully refunded when the trolley is returned. Supermarket managers state that loss of trolleys, since they introduced this system, is now practically nil. However this is not good news for the trolley manufacturers.

Shannondoc the company which provides an “out-of-hours” medical service in the Midwest, servicing 275,000 people last year, has posted an annual loss of €66,329.  The company in 2007 recorded a slight profit of €5,800 after sustaining a loss of €40,715 in 2006.

However, according to recent accounts filed with the Companies Office by Shannondoc Ltd, the company last year sustained this loss despite increasing its income  from €5.7 million to €6 million, an increase of  4.7 per cent.

In  April last, the Health Service Executive (HSE) ended it’s 24-hour AE services at Ennis and Nenagh General Hospitals, despite protests from many GP’s in the areas of Clare and North Tipperary, which resulted in these units being closed between 8pm and 8am each day. This resulted in calls to the Shannondoc’s Nenagh service since last April being increased by some 33 per cent.

At Nenagh General Hospital work is expected to begins shortly on the construction of a two-room endoscopy suite. This project will facilitate development of endoscopy services on site which will enhance the delivery of gastroenterological diagnostics at the hospital and for the region. Clinical leadership for such a unit is already in place at Nenagh Hospital as a Consultant Gastroenterologist is on site.

The Shannondoc service has been helped only slightly by the HSE, latter who providing one additional doctor in Nenagh between the hours 8pm and 2am, since the closure of this 24-hour accident and emergency service.

Last year, to provide the Shannondoc service, costs increased to €6.1 million, of which the HSE contributed €4.6 millions.

The big concern next year is that this funding will be severely cut and the impact that this will have on this very necessary service.

Concerns have been also expressed regarding road surface conditions on the Thurles to Newport road, by those forced to drive, on a regular basis, to attend the Mid-Western Regional Hospital in Dooradoyle, latter which has been ranked as one of the three worst-performing hospitals in the country in a recent HSE league table of 45 hospitals.

Shannondoc employs 134 staff comprised of 43 drivers, 51 medical staff and 40 administrative staff.

Employment costs have risen by 8 per cent from €3.8 million to €4.2 million last year.

Thurles.Info today has received an enormous number of calls from members of the public seeking the addresses of Tipperary Clinics administering  the Swine Flu Vaccine.

Swine Flu Vaccine is now available for specific groups of people with at-risk conditions and pregnant women. Other groups will be vaccinated at a later stage.
People who are in the special at-risk groups should first talk to their GP about getting the Swine Flu vaccine.
If your GP is not giving out the Swine Flu vaccine, and some are not, you can be vaccinated at a HSE Clinic.

Swine Flu Vaccine Clinics Operating In Co Tipperary

North Tipperary: HSE, The Derg Centre, Gortland Roe, Nenagh, Co. Tipperary -  Mon-Fri, 9am-5pm  - Phone 067-46711

South Tipperary:
St. Claire’s Ward, St. Luke’s Hospital, Western Road, Clonmel -Mon, Tues, Wed 9.30am-4.30pm – Phone 052-77000
Our Lady’s Hospital, Boherclough St, Cashel – Thurs, Fri, 9.30am-4.30pm – Phone 062-61022

For further information regarding Swine Flu Matters please click here and type your query into the panel on the top left of the Home page which asks - Can we help you find something?

Note: You can make your appointment for the vaccine on line.
Phone the HSE 24 hr Flu Information Line at Freephone 1800 94 11 00 for up to date recorded information on Swine Flu.

Mass swine flu vaccination will begin tomorrow with 2,300 GPs having now received stocks of the necessary vaccine over the past 10 days.

The Health Service Executive (HSE) said 45 clinics will also be administering the inoculation free of charge to patients in high-risk categories.

“This free vaccine offers protection from swine flu and is the best defence we have against the pandemic,” a spokeswoman from the HSE stated.

Last week, the HSE confirmed that the number of new swine flu cases was rapidly surging upwards, with the highest infection rates among schoolchildren.

Presently more than 100 people stricken with the H1N1 virus are in hospital, with 23 of these fighting for their lives in intensive care.

So far, 10 persons with the other underlying condition have died as a result of the H1N1 virus.

The HSE said everybody will be offered the vaccine but urged those who were considered high-risk to go their doctor or a participating clinic immediately.

High-risk categories include:

Pregnant women, from 14 weeks into their pregnancy to six weeks after giving birth.
Anyone aged between six months and 65 years who has long-term lung, heart, kidney, liver or neurological disease.
Anyone aged over six months and under 65 years whose immune system is being affected by medical treatment, who have haemoglobinopathies, diabetes, or who are morbidly obese.

The HSE state that people older than 65 years appear to have some immunity to the H1N1 strain and are not considered high-risk.

A HSE spokeswoman has stated:
“Each person who gets the vaccine helps to stop the spread of swine flu. Getting the vaccine not only ensures that the individual does not contract the virus but that the spread of the virus in the community decreases due to the ‘herd immunity’ effect, so we can all help to protect each other from the effects of this flu,”