LACK OF STAFF meant respite care could not be provided at Ennistymon Community Hospital for twelve of the last twenty four months, a North Clare representative has claimed.
Ennistymon Community Hospital currently has a bed capacity of 27. Of this, there are 17 long stay beds, nine respite beds and one palliative care bed.
Cllr Liam Grant (GP) at a sitting of the Regional Health Forum sought a comprehensive report on the services provided at Ennistymon Community Hospital and plans for future development.
Chief Officer, HSE Mid West Community Healthcare with Maria Bridgeman stated, “The long stay beds have been operating at full capacity. There is a high level of demand for long-stay beds in the area and there is a waiting list for access to these beds”.
Demand for respite service “has been affected by the pandemic, as many older people have been reluctant to leave their homes and access respite in a community setting. In spite of this, respite services in Ennistymon CNU were offered during the pandemic in line with public health guidelines and have continued to be offered since then. The average occupancy of the unit over the last 12 months is 90% for the 27 beds”.
She continued, “Recruitment and retention of staff remains an issue at Ennistymon CNU, as has been the case for many smaller units in rural areas. Staff shortages have led to the cessation of respite services on two particular occasions in recent times, August 2022 to January 2023 and August 2023 to January 2024. The palliative care bed and five respite beds are currently available for admission”.
To meet the demand for long stay care needs of the local population, a refurbishment of one room to repurpose four respite beds to long-stay beds has been completed. “This will reduce the number of respite beds from 9 to 5 and increase the number of long-stay beds to 19. Whilst in the short term this will reduce the overall bed capacity to 25 beds, it will ensure a targeted response to local population demand,” Maria stated.
An application has also been submitted to HIQA to register six new beds, she confirmed. HIQA conducted an announced inspection at the North Clare facility on February 7th. “Some additional refurbishment is required to meet the standards in order to secure registration. These beds cannot be occupied until they are successfully registered with HIQA,” Bridgeman added.
To safely open the new beds, a business case has been submitted to secure additional staffing of 6.5 whole time equivalent staff.
With the addition of six beds to the stock in Ennistymon, it will have a total capacity of 31 beds comprised of 25 long stay, five respite and one palliative care.
Certain people have been unable to get respite care, Cllr Grant flagged. “For twelve of the last thirty four months they have been unable to provide respite care with the lack of staff,” he said. “The response is hinging towards people less likely to take up respite care since COVID, I find that ironic,” the Lahinch representative remarked.
In response, Ms Bridgeman said they had approval for some staff. “The challenge is getting staff to Ennistymon which is one of our significant problems. We have agency staff but we can’t be solely relying on them,” she stated. “We have plans for six additional beds but even if we did get them it is a significant challenge to get people to work in the area because they don’t live in the area”.
