This article is from page 1 of the 2009-01-13 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 1 JPG
that there has been no consultation with GPs in the county, who will be asked to take on extra responsibility as a result of the oe nee
“If casualty goes, there is an expec- tation that GPs will fill the gaps but no one has spoken to us to ask how this will be implemented. We feel we are not the appropriate people to become A and E doctors overnight,” he said.
He said insurance, manpower and qualifications won’t allow it and dis- puted the figures used by the HSE to change the 24-hour A and E service
to a 12 hour service to deal with m1- nor injuries.
According to the HSE, the average number of attendances between 8pm and 8am at Ennis A and E 1s 9.2 and of these many are self-referral who “would be more appropriately dealt with by GP out of hour services”. There 1s no indication if these figures are contemporary.
PUKE IE Noe Iioke) MORON eon cy ambulance calls in Ennis at night. While A and E will be transferred to Limerick, plans are also in place to transfer all surgical emergencies from July. The HSE said it is clos- ing the A and E service as the night numbers is so small.
The Ennis General Hospital Action Committee, who has campaigned against such an eventuality has de- scribed the plan as “a murderous pol- icy’ which will “sound a death knell to the ability of rural areas and pe- ripheral towns to attract investment and jobs into areas with restricted access to acute medical and surgical Services’.
‘The report is a missed opportuni- ty, containing very little primary re- search and recommendations which are based on inappropriately used Statistics.”