Cllr.

Morris responds to the recent H I Q A damning report on the Limerick University Hospital
I am delighted that after several requests by me H I Q A have gone into the
Limerick University Hospital and confirmed that we have all known since the
closure of 24 hour accident and emergency facilities in Nenagh and Ennis
hospitals. I feel vindicated by the report despite being accused of scare mongering
on numerous occasions by Fianna Fail , Fine Gael and Labour politicians that cared
more for votes than the health of their constituents.
The recent H I Q A report has stated that the emergency department in the
Limerick University Hospital was not fit for purpose with persistent overcrowding
and long delays It was inevitable from the Hanly Report to the Teamwork report
that the Limerick University Hospital would not be able to fit in the patients of
the Mid West Region without major investment of the Hospital.(Hanly mentioned
320 million) I warned that the investment would be needed first before services
were withdrawn from Nenagh and Ennis but successive Government T Ds Maire
Hoctor, Michael Lowry and later the u turn pairing of Alan Kelly and Noel Coonan
betrayed the people of the Mid West by buying into Reconfiguration without
adequate investment thereby putting their constituents at huge risk due to
squeezing the people of the Mid West into a Hospital that is not fit for purpose.
The visit by H I Q A was pre warned found 37 patients on trolleys and found that
the conditions severely reduced patients safety, privacy and dignity .
The fact that the I N M O highlighted the lack of space in the emergency
department in 2004 before services were withdrawn shows that the Health
services executive and Local Government T Ds were playing with peoples lives and
should apologise to the people of the Mid Western region for their carelessness.
The shocking point in the report was that the small hospitals in the region were
closed down when H IQ A used similar terminology like not fit for purpose . I
am now calling on our Government T Ds to do the right thing and demand the
return of 24 hour Accident and Emergency services to Nenagh and Ennis until
such time that Limerick has had sufficient investment to make it safe for the
people of the mid west.
Yours sincerely Cllr. Samie Morris 08/06/14