A 64 per cent reduction in the number of patients being treated on trolleys at Mayo General Hospital in comparison to the same period last year is welcome news and places the Castlebar facility as one of the best performing hospitals in the country in this regard.
The figures were released to Mayo TDs at an Oireachtas meeting this week.
According to the HSE the reduction has been achieved through a number of measures including reconfiguring in-patient surgical beds, ring fencing 43 surgical beds for surgery, the re-designation of 16 surgical beds to medical, and re-assigning 16 beds as a surge capacity. Also the hospital increased day of procedure admissions for elective in-patient procedures from 62 per cent to 78 per cent and increased day cases from 52 per cent to 68 per cent.
Further planning in the areas of discharge have also helped lead to this reduction.
Ballina TD Michelle Mulherin has welcomed these greater efficiencies and has congratulated the hospital management, consultants, nurses, and all staff for their “excellent work” while working on a reduced budget.
“This is a tremendous achievement in addressing this problem which has been plaguing accident and emergency departments the length and breadth of the country this past number of years. Nationally the number of patients waiting on trolleys over the same period has reduced by 20 per cent. This places Mayo General as one of the best performing hospitals in the country,” said Deputy Mulherin.
Dep Mulherin has also paid tribute to the Lean Academy initiative which sees some of the multi-national industries based in Mayo, which are at the cutting edge of their own businesses, engage with hospital management in order to assist with the development of business type models to deliver efficiencies and an improved healthcare service to patients. “This input is very valuable and the companies involved are to be commended for their corporate social responsibility for the benefit of the people of our county,” added Dep Mulherin.
Plans for an extension to the renal dialysis unit which will eliminate the need for some patients having to travel to Galway for dialysis were also welcomed by the Ballina TD.
Similarly construction of the cystic fibrosis building at Mayo General is expected to commence in January 2012 and the MRI is to be officially opened soon.
“New healthcare policy which requires ‘money to follow the patient’ is being embraced by management and is being seen as an opportunity to increase the level of service the hospital currently provides. All in all there is an awful lot of good work in train in Mayo General despite budget and staffing constraints which deserves to be applauded. Excellence is something that we must always strive for and is an on-going process.
“Also I wish to welcome the appointment of a child psychiatrist to Mayo Mental Health Services at Ballina Hospital. This is something I had been agitating for and is long overdue,” concluded Dep Mulherin.
