HIQA urges urgent action but avoids backing single solution for Mid-West hospital crisis

After 18 months of study, the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) has concluded that urgent intervention is needed—but has stopped short of recommending which intervention.

HIQA’s assessment, published yesterday outlined three long-term options: expanding University Hospital Limerick (UHL) at Dooradoyle, developing a second nearby campus, or building a new Model 3 hospital with a second emergency department. An ESRI study suggested the region will need 299 to 593 extra beds by 2040.

READ ALSO: Arrabawn Tipperary Co-Op joins study on bio-refineries to explore co-operative benefits

The watchdog, however, refused to specify which path should be taken—or whether an existing hospital such as Nenagh or Ennis might be upgraded to meet that model.

Alan Kelly, a Labour TD for North Tipperary and Northwest Kilkenny, denounced the report stating, “I find the HIQA report borderline insulting,” he said.

“I mean I don’t believe in fairness to HIQA that they should have been asked to do this. But why it took 18 months or so for this to be done is beyond me. The obvious decision has to be made – we need a new Model 3 hospital in the Mid West. It has to have A&E capacity and ICU capacity – we can’t keep putting everyone through Limerick. It is insane – 147 people on trolleys in one day alone this week.”

HIQA, for its part, insisted that it was not in a position to offer a single definitive solution. Sean Egan, its director of healthcare regulation, stressed the trade-offs inherent in each approach:

“We weren’t in a position to actually make that call and the reason for that is each one of these has benefits and also potential challenges. And look ultimately this is a policy decision and this is advice to the Minister to make a Ministerial call in relation to exactly how services would be provided going forwards,” he said.

“There is no perfect solution here – each of them has its own challenges but at the same time we believe that there is a requirement for urgent intervention now to provide extra capacity in the short term.”

Ryan O’Meara, Fianna Fáil TD for North Tipperary and Northwest Kilkenny, has welcomed the publication of HIQA’s review into urgent and emergency care in the HSE Mid-West. “I welcome that this report has finally been published,” he said after a briefing with HIQA and Health Minister Jennifer Carroll MacNeill.

“In the short term, I will be calling for increased and rapid investment to deliver the beds that we need on top of the new 96 bed block that is due to be opened in UHL this year,” said Mr O’Meara. Longer term, he argued, “option C; the development of a Model 3 hospital…is the best option for meeting that demand.”

The current stalemate reflects a recurring challenge in Ireland, where expert reviews are sometimes used as a means of postponing decisions rather than expediting them. Given that UHL is already the most overcrowded hospital in the country, there is a strong and pressing case for establishing a second emergency department in the region.

READ MORE: Famous Tipperary castle set for major makeover as council takes charge