Deputy Jackie Cahill has responded to concerns expressed by GPs about the operation of the Medical Assessment Unit in Nenagh General Hospital. He said the unit should be able to get through 16 to 20 patients per day with a full complement of staff, but is currently only seeing 6 to 8 patients per day, according to a north Tipperary GP. This compares to Ennis MAU, where upwards of 24 people are seen per day by the specialised consultant, supported by a registrar, nursing support and administrative support teams.
In a letter to Deputy Jackie Cahill this week, the north Tipperary GP who asked to remain anonymous stated that the lack of efficiency in the Nenagh MAU is resulting in the 35 north Tipperary GPs having to send their patients into the A&E in Limerick Regional Hospital for assessment rather than to the local Nenagh MAU. Now that the winter season is upon us, and pressure is increasing, this particular resource really needs to be made more available to GPs. This particular deficiency cannot be blamed on COVID so please don’t use that as an excuse.”
Speaking on this today, the Fianna Fáil T.D. for Tipperary said: “I have been raising the issues facing Nenagh Hospital MAU for a number of months at this stage. I was first contacted by concerned staff members in the hospital who raised the fact that the unit was often closed for days on end due to a lack of adequate staffing numbers to manage and operate the vital facility efficiently and safely. “I have also raised this issue in the Dáil previously and I am currently awaiting a response to a fresh series of Parliamentary Questions that the HSE are due to answer in the coming days.
