University Hospital Limerick overcrowding
Deputy Lowry describes severe overcrowding and safety concerns at UHL, noting record trolley numbers despite extra beds. The Taoiseach says an expert team has been sent to assess urgent resource needs, more beds have already been added, and further plans include a 96-bed ward block.
University Hospital Limerick, UHL, has been in crisis for some time. There is great concern about the accessibility to the hospital, the level and quality of care and the threat to patient safety. The Department of Health has appointed an expert team to investigate the chronic overcrowding and the apparent breakdown in the delivery of services. Despite the fact that UHL gained an additional 100 beds in the past 18 months, last Thursday it recorded 126 people on trolleys. That is the highest figure recorded since records began. These patients were not in the emergency department. They had been triaged and deemed to be in need of urgent admission.
What are the terms of reference for the expert team? Will they engage with the nursing staff, the GPs of the region and the ambulance services? Will they engage with patients and listen to the traumatic experiences of patients? It is imperative that they examine and indicate the additional supports and facilities that should be provided at Nenagh, Ennis and St. John's Hospital to alleviate pressure on UHL. Would they also examine the need for step-down beds? In the interests of transparency the outcome of this inquiry should be made public.
Comment on this
The Minister for Health wrote to the HSE CEO on 26 April to request that an expert team be sent to UHL to ascertain urgently what additional resources might be deployed as well as any changes that could be made quickly to alleviate the current pressures being experienced in the emergency department. That expert team began its assessment at UHL last week. A key part of the solution for Limerick is additional beds. As the Deputy said, 150 additional beds were opened in UL Hospital group since 1 January 2020 of which 98 have been in UHL. The hospital has reported that it is continuing to deal with record volumes of patients attending the emergency department. It recorded a 10% increase in attendances in the first quarter of this year compared with the same period in 2019. The hospital is working to ensure that care is prioritised for the sickest patients and as part of the escalation plan additional ward rounds, accelerated discharges and identification of patients who transferred to UL model 2 hospitals are all underway.
UHL is working with HSE Mid West community healthcare to formalise a governance structure to deliver on the investment in community care, hospital avoidance and chronic disease management for older persons.
