A number of emergency departments in various small hospitals will be closed, if the Health Service Executive does not remove prohibition on the agency doctors. The aspect has been notified to other hospitals after the closure of the emergency department of Roscommon Hospital.

The Irish Association for Emergency Medicine (IAEM) has demanded removal of emergency departments from the new appointment freeze, which is supposed to be formulated by August 15. The association revealed about the
30% vacancies in the emergency department and 15% vacancy for the position of SHO. The steps of closing emergency departments by HSE have been protested by hundreds of people.

Some smaller EDs [emergency departments] will be closed permanently or will have specific hours allotted to attend the patients who came in emergency till the agency staff is employed for the vacant posts, reveals the association in a statement. It further added, “There will be unacceptably long delays in patients accessing care due to doctor shortages. The ultimate outcome of these scenarios will be to put patients at increased risk”.

Presently, the HSE was recruiting staff from India and Pakistan for the vacant posts. The IAEM opposed the step of HSE emphasizing the absence of full-day supervisors at the small hospitals, which will be a hurdle for the new staff being placed in the emergency departments.