LIFT AGE LIMIT AT THE LOUTH’S INJURIES UNIT

The age restriction on under 14s getting treatment at the Minor Injuries Unit (MIU) at the Louth County Hospital should be lifted, Fine Gael TD Peter Fitzpatrick said yesterday during a visit to the Dublin Road campus.

He said he was ‘appealing for this restriction to be lifted, to allow the services in place at the hospital to be made available to children’. His plea comes shortly after he raised the issue with the new health minister, Simon Harris and the HSE.

Mr Fitzpatrick said: ‘I have been informed that there is a working group currently reviewing the age attendances in the MIU. I have also been told that since it has been ten years since children were last seen in the hospital, paediatric training needs to be put in place, before the age restriction can be lifted.

‘I’m now appealing to Minister Harris to make the necessary funding available of this staff training, as a matter of urgency.

‘On Monday, I visited the Louth County Hospital and was very pleased to see that all wards are open and fully operational. In fact the hospital has never been so busy.

‘Unfortunately, many people are still unaware of the great services available in hospital and too many people are still going to the A&E in Drogheda, when in fact they could simply go to the MIU.

‘Since 2010, the very dedicated staff at the Louth County Hospital have worked tirelessly to develop and expand the services available. I would appeal to everyone to make use of these great services.

‘I will be pursuing this issue with Minister Simon Harris and I will be working to ensure that the required funding is made available for the staff training that’s required to allow children to be treated at the Louth’.