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Cautious welcome for reopening of 28 beds at Louth Hospital |
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Written by Louthhospital.com Webmaster
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Friday, 04 November 2011 11:05 |
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" We in the Save Our Hospital Services Campaign are giving a cautious welcome to the news that some beds may be reopened in Louth County Hospital in the near future.
"It is important to note that more than 90 beds were closed in Louth County Hospital in the summer of 2010, the Intensive Care Unit was closed and the A&E Deparment was downgraded to a Minor Injuries Unit. The crisis in our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda is a direct result of the closures in Dundalk.
"The closure of services in Dundalk has been proven to be a failed policy. We want Intensive Care, A&E and Acute Medical services reinstated in Louth County Hospital. We see this recent move by the HSE as a soft admission that Reconfiguration is failing and offers no improved service for patients.
"The opening of beds in Dundalk will only help alleviate the overcrowding crisis in Drogheda if it is a genuine increase in bed capacity in our hositals.
"However, as a community based campaign group, we have a number of concerns which we are asking the HSE to clarify.
Firstly, we believe that beds were removed from Louth County in February of this year and donated to a charity in Libya. We are asking the HSE to clarify if there are actual beds to reopen in Dundalk.
Secondly, we are asking the HSE to confirm exactly how many additional patients (additional to the current 36 medical beds) will be cared for in Louth County Hospital, how many extra nurses and carers are required to care for these patients and if additional doctors will be assigned to Louth County Hospital?
Thirdly, the HSE announced that EUR750,000 is being allocated to pay for the initiative. We want to know if the Minister for Healh is willing to maintain the additional service into next year.
These concerns have been passed on to the local Hospital Management of the HSE. |
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HSE statement on the removal of the Rapid Reponse Vehicle |
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Written by Louthhospital.com Webmaster
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Monday, 17 October 2011 18:36 |
HSE Response
On Friday October 7th an operational decision was taken by the National Ambulance Service to defer the use of the Rapid Response Vehicle in the former north east area in order to ensure adequate numbers of Advanced Paramedics are available to work in the first instance as part of the Emergency Ambulance crews in the area. All Advanced Paramedics now travel as part of the emergency crew and respond to calls as directed by the advanced Medical Priority Dispatch System (AMPDS) in the services control and communications centre for the north east region in Navan.
The AMPDS utilises internationally recognised protocols and standards to ensure that life threatening situations receive an immediate and appropriate response and the nearest appropriate ambulance resource is mobilised to the location of any incident.
Advanced Paramedics work as part of the national ambulance services emergency crews and are trained to provide defined levels of patient care including intubation, cannulation and the administration of medications. A small number of Advanced Paramedics are also trained to deliver clot-busting drugs/ pre hospital thrombolysis in line with agreed protocols.
Initially when pre hospital thrombolysis was introduced in the former north east area, Advanced Paramedics trained to deliver this service travelled in rapid response vehicles and responded to calls alongside the ambulance emergency crew. To date, three patients in the north east area have received this treatment.
The National Ambulance Service states that there is no diminution of ambulance services in the former north east region and clot busting medications/pre hospital thrombolysis continue to be provided by appropriately trained advanced paramedics. The current level of service provided by the National Ambulance Service can only be maintained by concentrating skilled staff on emergency ambulances, rather than maintaining a range of different vehicles.
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Nursing spokesman calls for Lourdes to close A&E - Drogheda Independant |
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Written by Louthhospital.com Webmaster
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Saturday, 15 October 2011 09:48 |
A NURSING spokesman has called for Our Lady of Lourdes Emergency Department (ED) to close its doors to the public after reaching another record high of 58 people being treated on trolleys on Tuesday, a jump of 34 overnight.
Tony Fitzpatrick, Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation's (INMO) Industrial Relations Officer, said they are seeking urgent talks with management of the hospital to find out how the number could have increased so much in 24 hours, and call for the hospital to be put in protective call.
'The nurses don't want to go down the line of industrial action, and we are giving the management every opportunity to find an alternative, but this practice of putting extra trolleys on wards is unsafe to the public and they should stop taking in anymore patients,' he told the Drogheda Independent.
'Our Lady of Lourdes hospital has immediate provision to open another 16 beds, with a further 25 in the Louth hospital, but that would need staffing, and they are unwilling to do that.'
The spokesman says they are putting cost-saving over people's health, and would prefer to put people on trolleys than pay for extra staff. If management doesn't move to open more beds with staff, we will be left with no alternative but to seek industrial action.'
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HSE Press Release - Status of Maternity Services in Cavan/Monaghan & Louth |
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Written by Louthhospital.com Webmaster
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Tuesday, 04 October 2011 12:04 |
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"This week's news from the HSE that the decision to close maternity services in Louth County Hospital is a sick joke" - Tomás Sharkey
Sinn Féin County Councillor in Louth Tomás Sharkey has hit out at this weeks announcement from the HSE that the closure of maternity services is permanent.
"When the old Health Board, under the political stewardship of Fianna Fáil closed our maternity ward in Dundalk some ten years ago, the public were told that the closure was temporary and that there would be a study into the chances of putting a Midwife Led Unit in our local hospital.
"We have waited for some time for that study to be conducted by Trinity College. When it finally made it's report, it stated that a Midwife led Unit should be in a hospital with an A&E. By that time the A&E was closed in Dundalk.
"The HSE have basically come clean this week and publicised what everybody knew but government politicians denied 10 years ago.
"Since Maternity Services were closed in Dundalk, we have seen staff shortages and capacity problems in Our Lady of Lourdes."
SEE HSE PRESS RELEASE BELOW :-
HSE Press Release - Oct 3rd 2011
FORMAL NOTIFICATION REGARDING THE STATUS OF MATERNITY SERVICES IN THE CAVAN/MONAGHAN & LOUTH MEATH AREAS
Safe maternity services require Maternity Units to have a sufficient critical mass of patients to ensure appropriate staffing and experience for safer care and best patient outcomes. The Women and Children’s Clinical Directorate has confirmed that the current configuration of services in both Cavan/Monaghan & Louth Meath Integrated Service Areas ensures this.
A Supreme Court ruling in the later part of 2010, upheld the right of the former North Eastern Health Board to cease Maternity Services in Monaghan Hospital. Based on this Supreme Court judgment, the HSE confirms that the original decision to cease the in-patient Maternity services, on an interim basis, in Monaghan Hospital and Louth County Hospital, Dundalk is now permanent.
ENDS
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Last Updated on Tuesday, 04 October 2011 19:20 |
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Latest domino about to fall at The Louth |
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Written by Louthhospital.com Webmaster
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Monday, 08 August 2011 12:41 |
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The Save Our Hospital Services Committee in Dundalk has said it is no surprise that the latest domino is about to fall on the Louth County Hospital with the moving of laboratory services to Drogheda.
A spokesperson for the committee said
"The planned closure of the lab at the Louth this September following on from the closing of the Morgue shows there is no change in government/HSE policy when it comes to the provision of services for the people of Dundalk and surrounding area.
We know from the recent leaked document that the report on the lab was to be presented to the Minister for Health on the 8th July.
"The regime of cuts to services continues no matter what spin is spun. Patients and the general public in this area are the ones to suffer.
There are many questions which need to be addressed regarding how the removal of the lab will affect other services in the Louth. How much will it cost to transport blood tests normally tested at The Louth to Drogheda."
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Last Updated on Monday, 08 August 2011 12:45 |
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