Mid-West emergency care plans remain unclear after health minister meeting

A meeting between the Health Minister and Oireachtas members from the Mid West this week has heightened uncertainty over how the Government plans to address the region’s emergency care crisis.

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Nenagh Needs its A&E says the discussion has created further confusion following what it believes is Minister Jennifer Carroll MacNeill’s decision not to advance work on a new Model 3 hospital in North Tipperary or Clare.

The proposal had been one of the options outlined in a HIQA report that examined potential solutions to chronic overcrowding in the Mid West.

Local campaigners have long argued that the closure of Emergency Departments in Nenagh, Ennis and St Johns contributed to the strain now bearing down on University Hospital Limerick.

The group contends that the outcome of this week's meeting has led to conflicting political interpretations and has left the public unclear about the Government’s direction.

It has called on the Minister to address people in the region directly and to set out what she intends to bring before Government.

The Minister’s position appears to rule out progressing with a new Model 3 hospital in Nenagh or Ennis, despite the option being identified by HIQA.

Other suggestions in the report include the expansion of the existing University Hospital Limerick site or the development of a second campus near Dooradoyle.

The Minister is understood to have told Mid West Oireachtas members that these proposals will be presented to cabinet before the end of the year.

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