The new Emergency Department at Kerry General Hospital has officiall opened today.

The new facility, built at a cost of €4m will cater for approximately 33,000 attendances annually, replaces the existing Emergency Department and will provide a greatly enhanced environment for patients attending the ED and for the staff who work there.

Acknowledging the significance of the new facility, Dr. Jason Carty and Dr. Martin Boyd, Consultants in Emergency Medicine, KGH said: "The new ED is a real step forward for emergency medicine services in Kerry. This new state-of-the-art facility will provide a better environment for all patients who attend the Department and allow the ED at KGH to evolve and enhance its service and meet the requirements set down by the Special Delivery Unit and Emergency Medicine Programme."

Mr PJ Harnett, General Manager, KGH, said: "The new Emergency Department is more than twice the size of the existing one and forms a key part of the capital development programme currently underway at KGH. The new building will provide significantly enhanced services for patients offering levels of privacy and dignity that were compromised in the old Emergency Department. It also allows staff to fulfil their professional aspirations in facilitating improvements in clinical practice in the context of an improved environment. The dedicated and professional team of staff, whose performance to date is evidenced and has to be applauded, now have a state of the art environment in which to provide the best service possible to people who attend KGH seeking emergency treatment."

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Highlights of the new Emergency Department include a spacious and bright reception area, a dedicated x-ray examination facility, significantly enhanced treatment areas for dealing with major traumas, increased space for each treatment area, an enhanced resuscitation area, dedicated specialist facilities for people attending the Department with obstetric, gynaecology, ENT, ophthalmology conditions. There is also a separate dedicated facility for children attending the Department allowing triage, assessment and treatment to take place separately from adults.

In addition, a state of the art triage area will be provided in order to ensure that the way in which patients progress through the Department is managed in accordance with best practice. The new Department will also have better facilities for the family of critically ill patients, bereavement services and patient counselling.

Michael Fitzgerald, HSE Area Manager, Kerry said: "This is a wonderful day for the people of Kerry and the new Department forms a key element of improvements to health service provision for the region. The new ED provides enhanced services and will undoubtedly increase and improve the efficiency of patient care. I would like to take this opportunity to wish the staff well in their new environment and thank them for their ongoing commitment to caring for patients on a daily basis."

(CD/GK)