Mallow Injury Unit continues to treat more patients Open 8am- 8pm 7 days Last patient check in at 7pm. Open Bank Holidays
UNIT IS OPEN 8AM-8PM SEVEN DAYS A WEEK TO TREAT INJURIES SUCH AS BROKEN BONES, DISLOCATIONS, SPRAINS, STRAINS, AND MINOR BURNS (Closed Christmas Day & St. Stephen’s Day)
MALLOW Injury Unit is one of 11 Injury Units now in place across the country. It is open seven days a week from 8am to 8pm and can treat patients aged five and over for a wide variety of injuries, such as broken bones, dislocations, sprains, strains, and minor burns.
In 2016 over 6,000 patients attended Mallow Injury Unit and this year the number of patients treated has continued to increase with the latest available data showing that over 6,300 patients were treated in the unit in 2017.
“We know from feedback received that patients who use our Injury Units generally have a very positive experience,” said Dr Gerry McCarthy, Consultant in Emergency Medicine, and Clinical Lead of the National Emergency Medicine Programme. “But we really want to make sure that everyone knows just what our Injury Units do and the efficient and high quality care they will receive when they attend.”
Injury Units can treat patients with broken bones, dislocations, sprains, strains, wounds, scalds and minor burns that are unlikely to need overnight admission to hospital. Staff members take xrays, reduce joint dislocations, apply plaster casts and treat wounds by stitches or other means.
They provide swift access to tests and xrays and some have rapid access to physiotherapy services.
They are staffed by Consultantled teams of doctors, advanced nurse practitioners, nurses, radiographers and physiotherapists. Patients can go directly to the Unit or be referred by a GP.
Dr McCarthy added: “Many Injury Units are reporting fast turnaround times for seeing and treating patients. In many cases the average time reported is between one and two hours, and sometimes less, so patients can save themselves long waiting times by attending Injury Units instead of Eds (Emergency Depts) when it is appropriate to do so.”
Explaining that each Unit is linked to a Hub Emergency Department in an acute hospital, Dr McCarthy added: “If a patient in an Injury Unit needs to be admitted to hospital they will be referred directly to a linked hospital in exactly the same way as if they had attended the Hub Emergency Department.
“Our Units provide the same level of expertise and service as Emergency Departments, for the appropriate group of patients, but they are not designed to treat serious head, back or neck injuries, abdominal (stomach) pain, medical illnesses or mental health problems.
“They do not treat children under the age of five, because of the special requirements of young children attending hospital, with some having a higher age threshold.”
There are 11 of these Units across the country, including three in Cork, in Bantry, Gurrnabraher in Cork City and Mallow. All have had consistently good feedback and reaction from the patients they treat.
There is no charge for patients with full medical cards or those patients with valid medical/GP referral letter.
For more information, visit www.hse.ie/injuryunits