Senator Maura Hopkins stated that she has “been in direct contact with Minister for Health, Simon Harris regarding A & E services at Portiuncula Hospital and there are no plans to close or remove services from any A & E departments, including Portiuncula Hospital”.
She went on to say that “the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI) which represents all surgeons in the country asked that a review take place at their last AGM examining management of trauma injuries in our hospitals for example, a severe head injury. Former Minister for Health, Leo Varadkar agreed to this request and a Trauma Steering Group was set up to examine this issue. This group has not yet reported and Minister Harris has not seen any output from the group. It is likely a report will not be presented until the end of the year.”
Senator Hopkins concluded by saying that “there are no plans to remove A & E services from Portiuncula Hospital, I will continue to work hard with Minister Harris to seek regular updates and ensure the services are maintained within the hospital”.
