Cancellation Of Appointments In Midwest, HSE’s Surprising Decision
The cancellation of appointments in five Midwest hospitals has caused a stir of confusion for the patients. Lately, it has been condemned for being “an abandonment of the people of the Midwest.”
The decision from the Health Service Executive (HSE) for cancelling the already scheduled appointment of elective surgeries, endoscopies and outpatient appointments was a surprise to all, said one of the consultant groups in Ireland.
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“It is one of the starkest developments in Irish healthcare in recent times”, the group said.
The University of Limerick Hospitals Group clarified that the decision was made in order to manage the large number of patients at University Hospital Limerick’s (UHL) emergency departments.
The issue of cancellation of appointments was observed at top hospitals like UHL, Ennis, Nenagh, Croom Orthopaedic Hospital and St John’s Hospital. The decision was deemed appropriate at the moment to “reduce wait time” as well as “de-escalate the UHL site” which was full of requests from the patients.
The rest of the routine work at the emergency department and services within University Maternity Hospital Limerick are carried out in a normal way.
The same hospital came up with a statement, “We regret the impact this decision will have on patients waiting for surgery, appointments and investigations; and all affected patients are being contacted directly by hospital staff. These appointments will be rescheduled as soon as possible”.
IHCA castigates the cancellation of appointments from HSE
Moreover, the Irish Hospital Consultants Association (IHCA) presented their argument that it will create an adverse impact on the winter months’ schedules that are expected to be busier than the normal routine. The patient’s health outcomes and management of even greater requests for appointments would become even harder, they argued.
The association debated that this might lead to an abandonment of Midwest hospitals and trust of patients for their service would lose gradually. Those in the Midwest who depend on them for quality healthcare would end up in disappointments, before and after making appointments.
Vice President of IHCA, Coline Pierce, alleged that this is a sheer display of lack of creativity and collaboration from the leadership of HSE. They need to come up with problem-solving attitudes to solve Limerick’s problems in healthcare, Pierce said.
The Vice President shared his views that fixing such problems, especially where health is concerned, takes a lot of courage and immediate as well as medium-term decision-making. This comes with a challenge that needs addressing as soon as possible but with careful intermediation and leadership, he verified.
Pierce cited that HSE leadership should be more sensitive towards these issues and, in fact, should have gauged the upcoming problem beforehand, so that necessary and shrewd decisions could have been made before the problem hit our heads.
It seems unbelievable to abandon a large local population of the Midwest without any specific amendment, Pierce further asserted. It would be like heartbreak for a patient who is already waiting for a critical surgery when he is told that the treatment has been cancelled, and even worse, the hospital does not know when it could be rescheduled in future, he claimed.
It is expected that not only the diagnosis, treatment and delivery of care are now in question, but there would be a larger effect on the waiting lists of patients from the Midwest, especially when an emergency of a newborn baby’s disease or an old person’s surgery arises.
Another new fear is stated by Pierce when he said that if the number of people on the waiting list keeps rising in the same way, there would be another mountain to move after NTPF data is published on August 9, Friday.
After the cancellation of appointments, people are afraid of cases like 16-year-old Aoife Johnston who waited in the hospital for 12 hours just to be assessed for sepsis and faced death in 2022. HSE needs to look for more sustainable solutions fast, Pierce remarked.