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Kathleen Lane (Mallow) was one of the first patients seen in the newly opened Endoscopy Suite at Mallow General Hospital pictured with Mary Owens, Director of Nursing. Photo: Sheila Fitzgerald

A new endoscopy suite opened at Mallow General Hospital on Tuesday, Dec 17 as part of a €4.5 million capital investment in the hospital.

The new suite is a modern, patient-centred build with two procedures rooms, a first stage recovery room and a discharge lounge, which replaces the existing endoscopy facility. Patients are referred for an endoscopy by their GP or consultant to investigate symptoms such as vomiting or bleeding. It is performed as a day procedure whereby a narrow tube with a camera at the end is passed into an organ such as the stomach or colon to view the inside.

The new endoscopy suite has the capacity to do an additional 1,000 endoscopies annually. Currently there are approximately 2,000 endoscopies per year performed at Mallow General Hospital, which means that the hospital now has the capacity to do in excess of 3,000 annually.

Ms Mary Owens, Director of Nursing at Mallow General Hospital, said, “I’m delighted that we have this new endoscopy suite for the people of Mallow and surrounding areas. It is a beautiful new purpose-built facility and meets all the international standards required for such a unit."

Dr Neil Cronin, Consultant Physician and clinical lead for the new unit at the hospital said they had been working towards re-organising services at Mallow General Hospital over the last number of years.

Part of this was a major extension to Mallow General Hospital for a replacement endoscopy suite and a new medical assessment unit and we are pleased that the new build is now complete.

The opening of the new endoscopy suite follows on from the re-organisation of other services. A Local Injury Unit (LIU) and Medical Assessment Unit (MAU) opened in March 2013. Both are now operating well and treating increasing patient numbers.

The LIU is open seven days per week from 8am to 8pm to treat adults and children (over five) with minor injuries such as a suspected broken bone, a sprain, a facial injury or a minor scald or burn. Staff can take x-rays, apply plaster casts and stitches.

The MAU is also open as above to treat referrals from GP/SouthDoc suffering from symptoms such as breathlessness, chest pain or blackouts.

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