Staff In Place But Life Saving Equipment Remains Unused At Limerick Hospital

In a letter to Minister of State Tony Killeen, the HSE stated that it has also offered additional part-time positions (WTEs) to facilitate the opening of the service.

Minister Killeen wrote to the HSE earlier this month after he was contacted by an Ennis woman who claims her son almost died in 2004 because the life-saving equipment had been left idle at the Dooradoyle hospital.

The proposed high dependency unit (HDU) is located within the existing Paediatric Department. The objective is to allow for the concentration of seriously ill paediatric patients and the better deployment of medical and nursing expertise.

Commenting on the Paediatric HDU, Minister Killeen said, "I have been informed that management at the hospital have been trying to progress this development for some years without success. Total expenditure on specialist equipment for the unit amounts to EUR267,538 to date and further funds have been spent on refurbishment."

The Clare T.D. continued, "The HSE has informed me that additional staffing in the form of four nursing whole time equivalent posts were allocated to provide for the service and a further 1.25 WTEs were recently offered to facilitate the opening of this service. The issue has been the subject of extensive local negotiations with the nursing unions since 2003 and more recently has been considered by the Labour Relations Commission on three separate occasions but without success to date."

Minister Killeen, meanwhile, has urged all parties to resolve all outstanding issues.

"I would hope that a solution to this impasse can be found in the very near future. It is unacceptable that expensive life-saving medical equipment should be lying idle, while children continue to be sent for treatment in the adult Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and at other hospitals," he concluded.

-ENDS-

Mark Dunphy
Dunphy Public Relations
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