It is “envisaged” that a hub-and-spoke emergency endoscopy service model will be established under the new regional health system, this newspaper has been told.
However, the “exact configuration” will depend on the respective health regions’ hospitals and services.
In 2023, the RCSI’s Surgery For Ireland report proposed a new networked approach for emergency surgical care. The document set out a series of recommendations aimed at “ensuring equitable regional access to higher-quality emergency surgical services” and “smoother transitions of care” for people who require complex emergency surgery.
One of its key recommendations was that emergency surgery centres should have availability of interventional radiology services and endoscopy on a 24/7 basis.
A HSE spokesperson told the Medical Independent there are already 24-hour emergency endoscopy services in model four hospitals and some model three hospitals.
The spokesperson added it was “envisaged that a more formal arrangement” will be established in each of the six new health regions, “with a hub-and-spoke emergency endoscopy service model, much like the recommendation in the RCSI report.”
They said these arrangements would be based on considerations at health region level.
“This would involve a change in on-call commitments for some consultants and NCHDs, in particular gastroenterologists, endoscopy nursing staff, and endoscopy operatives.”
The spokesperson noted there is currently a 24/7 gastroenterology consultant-delivered emergency endoscopy service in the Mater Misericordiae University Hospital, Dublin. Separately, the IHCA noted a requirement for around 50 additional consultant gastroenterologists by 2028 under HSE projections. This would represent an approximate 50 per cent increase from current levels.
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