New pilot scheme will see Mallow Hospital used to treat ED patients

Patients in North Cork are the first to benefit from a pilot project testing whether ambulance patients could be treated in a Medical Assessment Unit (MAU) instead of an Emergency Department (ED).

The pilot programme is assessing the safety of the ambulances bringing patients, after clinical assessment, to Mallow General Hospital (MGH), which does not have an emergency department.

A spokesperson for the South/South West Hospital Group said that the pilot project will assess if it is feasible and safe for the National Ambulance Service (NAS) paramedics to transport patients to the Medical Assessment Unit at the hospital.

“There are strict clinical and geographic criteria that must be met before the patient is brought to MGH,” the spokesperson said.

The pilot commenced on September 5 and there is no specific end date for the project.

“This depends on sufficient patient throughput to consider efficacy of the model. If successful the model could be used in other Model 2 hospitals.” It comes as emergency departments around the country are facing an unprecedented winter crisis, with the numbers on trolleys standing at 450 nationally on Friday, including 99 in Cork alone.

There were 63 patients waiting on trolleys in the ED at Cork University Hospital (CUH), 32 patients waiting on trolleys in the ED at the Mercy University Hospital (MUH) and four patients on trolleys elsewhere in the hospital at Bantry General Hospital (BGH).

If this pilot project is deemed a success, it could mean more people whose condition could be treated in a Medical Assessment Unit and less people on trolleys at EDs.