Bantry hospital understaffed
Bantry General Hospital‘s (BGH) Acute Medical Assessment Unit will not return to normal operations until at least September due to staffing shortages the hospital has confirmed.
In a statement, the hospital said it has struggled to attract suitably qualified staff to the unit despite advertising for vacant positions.
Management is now asking people to “think about all their care and treatment options”, with patients advised to contact their Local Injury Unit (LIU), GP or out of hours service Southdoc if in need of medical attention.
The hospital said a number of job offers have been made with additional consultant resources secured and due to commence in September 2021.
In the meantime, CUH and South/Southwest Hospital Group (SSWHG), will continue to support the hospital in the management of patient services.
The statement did however confirm that all other services, including the Minor Injuries Unit at the hospital are functioning as normal.
The statement read: “In keeping with normal HSE protocols when hospital services are challenged, GPs in Bantry General Hospital catchment area have been advised of the current situation and members of the public are advised to consider other care options before attending the Medical Assessment Unit at Bantry General Hospital.”
The statement added: “Bantry General Hospital wish to thank CUH for their continued support.”
Speaking on the ‘The Opinion Line with PJ Coogan’ on 96FM on Tuesday, Bantry-based Dr Paul O’Sullivan said his practice was “literally one step from disaster” due to the overflow of people needing medical attention.
Dr O’Sullivan said five consultants are required to run the service safely and BGH had been reduced to just one consultant in recent times due to a number of retirements and one consultant being off sick.
“You can’t have a consultant running 24 hours a day, seven days a week, so they have taken the decision to suspend admissions. However, we were not made aware of that,” he said.
Dr O’Sullivan said he was only made aware of the closure from patients and word of mouth as well as people who had been turned away from BGH.
Dr O’Sullivan concluded: “To say it’s a very unsatisfactory situation is an understatement.”