Expansion of Medical Assessment Unit in Ennis delivers 'significant and positive impact'

THE expanded Medical Assessment Unit services across the UL Hospitals Group are making a significant and positive impact on delivering timely care to growing thousands of patients from Clare and across the region who are referred by their GPs to hospital for urgent medical attention.

A €5.2m investment earlier this year saw the extending, from April 2023, of the MAUs at St John’s Hospital in Limerick and at Nenagh Hospitals to seven-day services. This followed the securing of funding to retain the already extended MAU at Ennis Hospital.

According to the UL Hospitals Group, total referrals by GPs to all three units in the year to date has almost surpassed the full-year referral total for 2022.

The latest available data confirms that by mid-October, GPs across the region had referred a total of 12,087 patients to MAUs via the Bed Bureau at University Hospital Limerick since the beginning of the year.

The most significant increase in referrals has been at Nenagh Hospital, where referrals in 2023 to date (3,287) are exceeding the numbers referred in all of 2022 by 33%. 

Second Clare town designated a Rent Pressure Zone

While it should be emphasised that MAUs are not a walk-in service, the gains are significant for patient access, and for GPs who regard the units as a lifeline in the management of more complex general practice cases.  

Medical Assessment Units are staffed by multidisciplinary teams including medical doctors, nurses, Allied Health Professionals, Health & Social Care Professionals (HSCPs) and administrative staff.