This article is from page 3 of the 2012-07-03 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 3 JPG
THE first round of patients will be moved from Ennis General Hospital to its new on-campus, 50-bed unit from next week.
However, it could be more than two months before the entire unit is up and running.
The HSE had predicted the unit would open before the end of last month, but the timeline was delayed.
“Opening a new unit on a greenfield site is always more straightforward and less complex than on an existing hospital campus. The current work plan envisages transferring patients to the ground floor of the new unit in the week beginning July 9,” said a spokesperson for the HSE.
“Reconfiguration works with regard to the connection between the existing hospital and the new ward block will initially be carried out at first floor level. These are anticipated to commence in late July and take about six weeks to complete,” he said.
Once these works are completed, the transfer of patients to the first floor of the new unit will take place.
Further work is then scheduled to take place between the two buildings at ground floor level.
Equipping and commissioning for the new 50-bed ward block is now reaching its final stages, while unions and management are understood to be in talks about staffing the unit.
The extension will include two new wards with 50 new beds including en-suites, and facilities for CT scanning, operating theatres, endoscope facilities and day surgery.
When all patients are transferred into the unit, it will be the first “Strategy for the Control of Antimicrobial Resistance in Ireland” compliant hospital unit in the country.
Meanwhile, it also emerged in the last week that more than 370 patients are on the hospital’s endoscopy unit waiting list.
It is feared that the waiting list could put in jeopardy plans to have the mid-west’s only Colorectal Screening Programme unit at the hospital.
It is one of the 15 candidate hospitals earmarked for the project, however it must adhere to reduce waiting times to get the green light.