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Community Intervention needed to be increased to combat Emergency Department Overcrowding

Use of Community Intervention Teams must be increased to combat Emergency Department overcrowding – Cahill

– Urgent need to launch awareness campaign –

Tipperary Fianna Fáil TD, Jackie Cahill has said that an expansion of the Community Intervention Team scheme should be explored to help reduce the chronic overcrowding in our Emergency Departments.

Community Intervention Schemes are specialist, nurse led health professional teams which provides a rapid and integrated response to a patient with an acute episode of illness who requires enhanced services/acute intervention for a defined short period of time.

Deputy Cahill added: “We need to look at every option that reduces the number of people having to present in our Emergency Departments. CITs are a useful tool in the fight against overcrowding.

“I’ve asked the Minister for Health what his plans are to promote the use of CITs in Tipperary, and to advise me on how the services provided by Community Intervention Schemes are being advertised to management in acute hospitals, and GPs.

“CITs can be very useful in reducing the number of people needing to present to Emergency Departments. Both University Hospital Limerick and South Tipperary General Hospital Emergency Departments have seen scandalously high levels of people waiting on trolleys since the beginning of the New Year.

“Minister Harris needs to start thinking outside the box by making greater use of CITs in Tipperary. The first thing that needs to happen to ensuring that all hospitals, GPs and community health services are aware of the service,” concluded Cahill.


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