New unit to tackle Tullamore A&E wait times

A new six-bed medical assessment unit for GP-referred patients at the Midland Regional Hospital in Tullamore is to help alleviate waiting times at the hospital's emergency department. Details of the new assessment unit were revealed at a meeting between hospital management and Tullamore Town Councillors on Wednesday. A HSE statement said the unit is to become operational "in the coming weeks". However Sinn Fein councillor Brendan Killeavy who attended Wednesday's meeting said councillors were told the new unit will open on December 1, and become fully operational over the proceeding months. Yesterday (Thursday) Cllr Killeavy welcomed the news, particularly, he said, given the overcrowding in the hospital's emergency department and lengthy waiting times. "This is good news for patients all around Offaly and surrounding counties," he said. Cllr Killeavy described the new unit as one that would work alongside the emergency department, dealing with patients with less threatening illnesses and allowing them faster medical assessment than they would have in the emergency department. A HSE statement said the opening of the Acute Medical Assessment Unit (AMAU) is central to the Acute Medicine Programme which was launched by the HSE early in the year. "At the heart of this programme is the collective desire to provide acute medical patients timely, safe and quality care in the appropriate setting and to encourage integrated clinical team working between colleagues of all specialities and disciplines across the whole patient journey," it said. It said the AMAU to be opened in Tullamore hospital would contain six assessment beds in a defined area and would see GP-referred patients who meet a pre-defined set of clinical conditions. The unit would be supervised by a designated consultant physician, who will be supported by dedicated nursing, medical and associated specialist services. The statement also said a decision regarding discharge or admission would be made in the unit within six hours, with the relevant GP being informed of both the decision and all relevant clinical details and care plans in the event of discharge.