Mayo General Hospital is short 12 junior doctors out of 80 posts, a situation which could lead to the axing of services in the future, most notably in the A&E department. The shortages are in the areas of emergency and medicine.
There was widespread condemnation of the HSE at a meeting of the Regional West Forum on Tuesday by members who were appalled to read in a Sunday newspaper that A&E services were being curtailed at Limerick Regional Hospital and Roscommon County Hospital from July 11. Members were outraged that all too often they were reading about developments within the service in the media, without any information being forwarded on to the HSE forum members themselves.
A statement by the president of the Irish Association of Emergency Medicine, Fergal Hickey, this week has indicated that Mayo General is facing a crisis in its A&E department due to the staffing shortage.
When the HSE was directly asked by the Mayo Advertiser if A&E at Mayo General would be closed at night time and weekends the reply said the service had taken a range of actions to address doctor vacancies over the past two years to ensure the impact on services and patient safety was minimised. However it did not comment specifically on whether a full A&E service would continue at Mayo General.
The statement said a recruitment drive at home and abroad for a new intake of junior doctors is currently under way. The HSE said it was working closely with the Irish Medical Council regarding the registration process for prospective junior doctors from India and Pakistan so that they can be placed within the Irish hospital system as soon as possible.
Because that recruitment process was still under way the HSE said it was too early to identify the extent to which hospitals would be affected by the vacancies on July 11.
At Tuesday’s forum meeting in Merlin Park, the HSE executive dismissed claims that A&E would be closed at night time and weekends at Limerick Regional Hospital with patients diverted to Galway. However they could not give the same assurances for Roscommon County Hospital where there is a shortage of five junior doctors.
The HSE executive admitted that the number of junior doctor vacancies at Mayo General was high when questioned by Councillor Seamus Weir, and explained that it was more attractive for larger hospitals to fill positions.
In a statement issued this week Castlebar town councillor Harry Barrett said he was concerned about the Irish Association of Emergency Medicine’s report which stated that Mayo General would be among the hospital emergency departments projected to have major staffing problems next month.
Cllr Barrett has called on the hospital management to issue an immediate statement on the matter.
