Private Emergency Department opens

The Hermitage Clinic in Lucan has opened an Emergency Department (ED). An initial consultation will cost €120, which the patient will pay up-front, though it will be partly reclaimable.
The private hospital has circulated 400 local GPs with details of the service and an average of 20 patients are expected to attend the facility daily, with six patients being admitted per day. Three weeks ago the Clinic received planning permission for an extra ward, with 32 additional beds. The Hermitage says it is confident that its current compliment of 101 patient beds will be fully in use by the end of this year. A steering committee has been organised within the hospital, which includes three GPs, to oversee the service. In the initial stages, the ED will be open from 8 am to 5 pm. Within six weeks, it is expected to be open until 7pm in the evening and then on Saturdays.

Triage will be provided in the ED, with access to a consultant in Emergency Medicine who will be supported by nurse colleagues and there will access to diagnostics. Ambulance trauma will not be dealt with. Daycare, sideroom and inpatient admissions are options.
Sports injuries and fractures will be treated. “Orthopaedic and general surgery will be carried out and the full spectrum of care will be available,” said the Chief Executive of the Hermitage, Mr Eamonn FitzGerald. He added that it was the Hermitage’s mission to compliment the public healthcare system.
In the last two months, a neurosurgical facility with five neurosurgeons has been added at the Hermitage. A neuro-oncology facility is envisaged and a consultant in internal medicine will begin working at Hermitage in July. Currently, interventional cardiology, angiography and angioplasty are carried out, as well as a significant number of orthopedic surgeries and joint replacements. Hermitage says it offers access to Plan B VHI customers and equivalent, without any support payments.
“The independent sector is here to complement the public sector,” says Mr FitzGerald, “We may have a long way to go before completion is reached, but the scope of development is huge.”