No plan for 24/7 opening hours at St John’s Hospital says UL Hospitals boss
THERE are currently no plans to extend the opening hours of the injury or medical assessment units (MAU) at St John's Hospital to 24/7, the UL Hospitals Group (ULHG) CEO has confirmed.
Professor Colette Cowan made the statement in response to a question at the Regional Health Forum West meeting, last week.
Last month the HSE’s National Acute Division approved the group’s application for €5.2m to provide staffing resources at St John’s and Nenagh hospitals and extend opening hours across seven days.
“Since this funding was approved, there have been no closures at any of our MAUs,” Ms Cowan said.
Recruitment is ongoing at St John’s, Nenagh and Ennis hospitals for a number of specialties including medical doctors, nurses, allied health professionals, health and social care professionals and administrative staff.
Last year was the busiest year on record for the injury units across the three hospitals with a total of 38,523 patients attending the units.
“As more of these staff take up post, the number of additional slots available for medical assessment will gradually increase,” Ms Cowan said.
“Once all staff are in post, the overall effect of this investment will be the creation of an additional 7,176 slots,” she added.
The current opening hours for the St John’s Local Injury Unit are 8am to 7pm, every day.