Dear Colleagues,
I want to take the opportunity to update you on recent developments across the HSE Mid West Region. Minister for Health, Stephen Donnelly TD during his recent visit to University Hospital Limerick announced several new measures to be implemented across our health and social care services with immediate effect. Together with you, I welcome the significant additional in-year investment the Minister has announced, representing an additional €160m capital funding and €79m recurring revenue funding each year.
This investment will support us to deliver enhanced health and social care services across the region and facilitate timely access to scheduled and unscheduled acute and community care for our population. I am under no illusion it will be a huge challenge to implement these additional pathways of care across community and acute services. However, I have every confidence, having had the opportunity to meet many more people working across our services in the last couple of months, that we have the skills, expertise, capability and determination to deliver this investment.
To that end, I look forward to working in collaboration with you to deliver these new measures:
- Safer Staffing will be extended to all wards in UHL with immediate sanction to commence recruitment.
- A change in the bed profile for the first 96 bed block increasing the number of additional beds from 48 to 71. We have approval to immediately commence recruitment for opening these beds in mid-2025.
- 16 additional beds in a rapid build ward are to be commissioned at UHL with this capacity to be available in advance of next winter’s surge. We have received the go ahead to immediately commence recruitment for this ward.
- A further 20 permanent step-down transition and rehab beds will be procured in Clare.
- The procurement process is underway for the temporary operation of the 50-Bed Community Nursing Unit in Nenagh as a step down sub-acute and rehabilitation facility for one year until the first 96 bed block at UHL is opened.
- The opening hours of the region’s three Medical Assessment Units at Nenagh, Ennis and St John’s are to be extended to 24/7 on a phased basis.
- GP and Advanced Nurse Practitioner-on-the-door services for the ED in an effort to alleviate overcrowding and allow the ED staff to treat urgent and emergency patients in a more timely manner which has already commenced
- A Social Inclusion integrated Hospital to Community Team that will tackle the demographic and social challenges which lead to over utilisation of hospital pathways.
- A CAMHS Paediatric Liaison Team to provide in reach into the paediatric wards to support children with mental health needs.
- Sanction to immediately recruit an additional 31 WTEs for Chronic Disease Management and ICPOP Teams
I look forward to working together with you to bring these measures to fruition, to further improve our healthcare services and make our region a place where many more people want to live and work. These measures will contribute to the development of a healthcare system where services are planned and delivered in conjunction with our multi-agency partners with a particular focus on population health management.
We will commence planning for the estimates process in the coming weeks and it is important any new service developments that contribute to improved health and social care services are flagged through your own appropriate governance line so these are considered for inclusion in our bid.
Thank you for your continued support and dedication.
Regards
Sandra Broderick
HSE Mid West Regional Executive Officer