Minister believes there is 'more to do' at MUH
Mayo University Hospital in Castlebar.
The Minister for Health has left HSE management and those working at Mayo University Hospital (MUH) in no doubt that only the highest standards of care should be on offer to patients.
Comparing the facility to similar Model 3 (general care) hospitals around the country, Minister Jennifer Carroll MacNeill said she wanted MUH to offer "smooth patient flow with no trolley pressure". She cited the examples of Connolly Hospital in Dublin, Portlaoise and Tullamore hospitals where there are often just one or two patients waiting on trolleys.
Speaking at a press briefing after her visit to MUH on Monday last, November 17th, the minister said she wanted to recognise all those in the hospital "who are working really hard to deliver a good service to the people of Mayo and who have implemented a series of reforms over last six to eight weeks". However, she warned that there is "more to do".
“I had the [HSE] Chief Nursing Officer down here on October 6 who spent a day with teams looking at different staffing issues, deployment of staffing and some of the processes and practices and putting some improvement programmes around that. I also asked the CEO of the HSE Bernard Gloster to attend MUH and he has had a very good follow-up with HSE Regional Manager Tony Canavan and the hospital manager Catherine Donohoe and had the opportunity to talk on the detail of that with the broader management staff this morning.”
Acknowledging that she had paid particular attention to MUH following her findings of patient safety issues during an unannounced visit there last August, she said: “I had a real focus on MUH for the benefit of the people of Mayo, for patient safety in Mayo and the staff working in the hospital, who I want to have a good, consistent, safe, comfortable place to work.
"I want fairness for people everywhere in Ireland to be able to access the same quality of care, the same urgency of care. I do not want someone in Belmullet prejudiced against my own constituency such as Dun Laoghaire where people can access more services.”
Minister Carroll MacNeill noted that there are "some excellent Model 3 hospitals with really good patient flow and no trolley pressures, who are delivering efficient services".
"I want to see the same consistent excellent standard for Mayo and we are seeing the beginning of that now."
