Health Minister tells Laois Offaly TD he has 'no plans for' Portlaoise hospital downgrade

Laois Offaly TD Brian Stanley was given assurances that the Midland Regional Hospital Portlaoise was not being downgraded.  

Deputy Stanley outlined the concerns of Laois residents in the Dail on Tuesday in light of the downgrading of Navan Accident and Emergency Department in Meath.  

He asked the Minister for Health “if he will provide an update on the future of the 24-hour status of the accident and emergency unit in Portlaoise hospital given the situation regarding Navan hospital.”

Deputy Stanley said: “I want to raise with the Minister the issue of the emergency department in Portlaoise. As the Minister will be aware, the Dr Susan O'Reilly plan, which was handed to me in October 2017, was to close the emergency department. That was put on the shelf. What is the current update on this because this is important for Laois and the surrounding counties?”

Dr O'Reilly was the Dublin Midlands Hospital Group CEO at the time. Her plan was endorsed by national clinical leads and national HSE management. It was also submitted to the then Minister for Health Simon Harris.

In response, Minister Stephen Donnelly made no reference to this plan. He added that he has received no downgrade plan.

“I assure the Deputy that no plans have been presented to me and there has been no discussion with me about any considerations to downgrade any of the services currently in operation at the Midland Regional Hospital Portlaoise, including the emergency department.” 

“Since 2014, the focus has been on supporting the hospital to develop and enhance management capability, implement change required to address clinical service issues and incorporate the hospital into the governance structures of the Dublin Midlands Hospital Group. I am fully committed to ensuring that these efforts continue. The Deputy would agree that great progress has been made by the fantastic healthcare professionals we have working in Portlaoise hospital,” he told Deputy Stanley. 

“The budget for Portlaoise hospital this year is over €71 million. The Deputy will be happy to hear that is an 11% increase on the 2019 figure and nearly a 60% increase on the 2012 figure. There has been a very significant increase in funding. Staffing levels are now at 824 whole-time equivalents. To give the Deputy a sense of it, that is a 50% increase on 2014. If we go back to 2014 and ask what has happened in the past eight years, we have seen a very significant increase in funding in hospital and a 50% increase in the workforce in the hospital. That is a really clear statement of intent from Government that this hospital is a priority and ongoing investment in the hospital will remain a priority,” Minister Donnelly said. 

Furthermore, he pointed out that “a €20 million in capital investment is enabling the reconfiguration and extension of laboratory services and a new respiratory assessment unit, and more besides is going on at the hospital.”

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When pressed for further assurance, Minister Donnelly stated: “On top of what I have already said, we can point to additional investment in the emergency department. For example, the nursing complement in the emergency department in Portlaoise, from post-pandemic to now, has increased from 28.5 whole-time equivalents to 36.5 whole-time equivalents, so not only is the service not being downgraded and not only have I had no conversations about that, in fact, if we look at the hard figures, what we see is that money is going in and services, including in the emergency department, are being increased.”

Deputy Stanley explained that the staff  were "under fierce pressure. One of my neighbours is an accident and emergency nurse.”

Minister Donnelly replied, “I fully accept that. There is an emergency department plan being put in place for every hospital. There are pressures all over the country. The influx that has been caused by Covid is immense. As we were discussing earlier, May of this year is the highest year on record for attendances to emergency departments, and I emphasise that is in May. We are planning for the winter now.”

The 2017 proposed the phased downgrade of services. Emergency, paediatrics, maternity, ICU and most surgical care were slated for removal under this plan. Other hospitals  would take up the slack through expansion in Dublin, Naas, Tullamore and Kilkenny hospitals.

Public opposition led by the Portlaoise Hospital Action Group caused the plan to be put on ice in anticipation of consultation that never happened.