University Hospital Limerick overcrowding
Deputy Quinlivan highlights severe overcrowding at University Hospital Limerick and asks when promised bed capacity will be delivered. The Minister says the timeline will be set out in the HSE capital plan once finalised.
A Programme for a Partnership Government includes a commitment to enhance health services. I want to raise the specific issue of the dreadful overcrowding in University Hospital Limerick. There were 75 patients on trolleys on Tuesday and, overall, there have been 217 patients on trolleys in the hospital this week. I wrote to the Minster for Health, Deputy Harris, asking him to meet Deputies from Limerick and the mid-west to hear our solutions to the problems at the hospital. The Minister did not even bother acknowledging our letter, which was also signed by other Deputies. This further highlights the total disregard he has shown for the situation in the hospital. People in Limerick depend on University Hospital Limerick because not everyone who has an accident runs to a private VHI clinic and a solicitor. Most people in Limerick are forced to wait hours and often days to be seen at the hospital.
Comment on this
When can we expect the 60-bed modular unit and the 96-bed extension to be delivered?
Comment on this
As the Deputy is aware, as we have debated this issue many times in the House, the timeframe will be confirmed in the capital plan which is being finalised by the HSE. The Minister is awaiting that plan to come from the HSE and it will be published as soon as it is ready.