New unit is opened at Connolly Hospital

The new acute medical assessment unit (AMAU) and MRI service at Connolly Hospital was officially opened last week by Tanaiste and Minister for Social Protection Joan Burton (Lab) and Minister for Health Leo Varadkar (FG).
Other local representatives were also on hand to celebrate the new unit which will provide urgent assessment and care for patients with medical conditions.
Cllr David McGuinness (FF), Cllr Edmond Lukusa (SF), Mayor of Fingal Mags Murray (FF), and Deputy Mayor Ted Leddy (FG) were just some of the celebrants on hand.
Minister Burton began her address by saying that she believed that naming the hospital after James Connolly “has fitted very well with the ethos of caring that the hospital has always fostered”.
She went on to say that: “The new MRI and AMAU in Connolly Hospital is welcome news for the patients attending the hospital and the staff working there. The unit will play a pivotal role in relieving pressure in other areas of the hospital, especially the emergency department, thereby providing a far greater and immediate service for patients from minimising delays to establishing early diagnosis, enhanced radiology facilities and access to MRI scans in the hospital. Congratulations to Dr Eamon Dolan, Dr Liam Cormican and the entire team in the AMAU.
“I wish them and the staff working in the associated departments every success as they continue to provide a quality care service for the patients using Connolly Hospital.”
Minister Varadkar, who trained as a doctor at Connolly a number of years ago, said: “It is a particular honour, and a very humbling experience for me that my first official function as Minister for Health is to be here at Connolly Hospital, which is my local hospital, and one I trained in 10 years ago.
“In those years, all of us who have been here, have seen the hospital really develop, from a hospital that was very much a higgledy-piggledy old TB hospital, into something we can really be proud of.
“The opening of the MRI suite and the AMAU is further evidence of the Government’s commitment to Connolly Hospital and to improving health services nationwide.
“Having an MRI suite in Blanchardstown cuts out unnecessary transfers to other hospitals, while the AMAU is already taking pressure off A&E.”
Connolly Hospital’s new €1m AMAU, is part of the HSE’s national acute medicine programme, and replaces the temporary AMAU that had been in place for two years.
The primary purpose of the AMAU is to provide urgent assessment and care for patients with medical conditions.
The new eight-bed unit treats patients who come directly from the emergency department.
The new €2m MRI facility in Connolly Hospital greatly enhances the diagnostic capabilities of radiology in Connolly Hospital.
Patients now have quicker access to MRI and patients no longer need to be transferred to other hospitals for MRI scans.
Hospital manager Mary Walshe said: “Both of these initiatives will enable improved, more effective, and efficient delivery of services.
“The acute medical assessment unit provides rapid assessment, diagnosis and early management based on the patients’ needs.
“The MRI has reduced the length of stay and enabled acutely ill patients to access the appropriate diagnostic service on site. These are welcome developments which enables Connolly Hospital deliver on improved patient care.”