Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 28 February 2023
547. Deputy Duncan Smith asked the Minister for Health if his attention has been drawn to the fact that a hospital (details supplied) will put in place an appointment only service in its urgent care unit; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9556/23]
View answer557. Deputy Joe O'Brien asked the Minister for Health if he will outline the reason for the change in the operation of the urgent care centre in Connolly Hospital, Blanchardstown, from a walk-in service to an appointment-based service; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9594/23]
View answer562. Deputy Louise O'Reilly asked the Minister for Health the reason the operations of the children’s urgent care clinic at Connolly Hospital, Dublin, are to be changed from a walk-in urgent care clinic to an appointment-based urgent care clinic; if he is aware that this is contrary to the reasons underpinning the establishment of the clinic; the reason there was no consultation with local primary care providers and other stakeholders; if he will ensure that the urgent care clinic continues to take walk-in emergencies; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9617/23]
View answer564. Deputy James Lawless asked the Minister for Health if a matter in relation to medical services for children in the east of the country (detail supplied) will be examined; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9624/23]
View answer600. Deputy Emer Higgins asked the Minister for Health if his attention has been drawn to a change in the model of care for a hospital (details supplied) from a walk-in urgent care clinic for children to an appointment-only service; the feasibility of changing this clinic back to a walk-in service to better meet parent’s and children’s emergency needs; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9804/23]
View answer632. Deputy David Cullinane asked the Minister for Health the reason for the removal of walk-in services from Children’s Health Ireland urgent care services; if these services will be returned; the resources required to return these services; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10039/23]
View answer669. Deputy Duncan Smith asked the Minister for Health if he will clarify the reason the urgent care clinic at Connolly Hospital has changed operations and now requires patients to book appointments to be seen in the clinic; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10168/23]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 547, 557, 562, 564, 600, 632 and 669 together.
CHI at Connolly, which opened in July 2019, is a children’s Outpatient and Urgent Care Centre staffed by specialist paediatric team including nurses, doctors, health and social care professionals and support staff. Urgent care is for the diagnosis and treatment of injuries or illnesses requiring medical review which are not serious enough to require Emergency Department attendance or inpatient admission.
The demand for services in CHI at Connolly Urgent Care Centre has steadily increased since it opened and CHI has advised that the Urgent Care Centre is currently seeing daily attendances far beyond the planned level of service activity. This demand is putting significant pressure on the system, resulting in long waiting times, and impacting on patient experience, which is difficult for both families and staff.
To address these issues CHI, informed by clinical advice, changed the Urgent Care Centre at Connolly from a walk-in service to a same day appointment service from the 22nd of February. A digital swift queue process on the CHI at Connolly website allows families to book an appointment at short notice and there are options for parents who cannot access online services.
This approach will improve patient experience by reducing onsite waiting times for families and will also redirect attendances which are more clinically suited to primary care or an Emergency Department. CHI is currently monitoring the impact of this change across the CHI sites.
