University Hospital Limerick
Deputy Quinlivan raised the continuing trolley crisis and cancelled procedures at UHL. The Taoiseach pointed to intensive HSE engagement, some recent progress and a site-level winter plan.
As I have raised with the Taoiseach on many occasions, University Hospital Limerick, UHL, has almost the highest number of patients on trolleys every day. The high number per day in the emergency department, ED, means that it is in a perpetual state of crisis requiring continued cancellation of elective procedures. The number of people treated on trolleys so far this year is 14,370 people, which already exceeds the significant total in 2021, and did so by the end of August.
The recently published Deloitte report commissioned by the University Limerick Hospitals Group found that an additional 302 inpatient beds are needed by 2026. It also outlined the detailed demand for additional staff in the emergency department with 83% of beds allocated to those who presented through the ED.
While a new 96-bed unit has started construction, this project remains 18 months from completion and will only deliver 48 additional beds. One does not need to be a mathematician to work this out. Following the Deloitte report, will the Taoiseach intervene or will the people of Limerick have to wait for years before they see any solution?
Comment on this
The HSE’s performance management and improvement unit led an intensive engagement with UHL team members throughout the summer in response to concerns about how the hospital was functioning. Progress has been seen in recent weeks, including the removal of ward trolleys and an overall reduction in admitted patients waiting on trolleys.
The Deloitte report, as the Deputy said, was commissioned by hospital management to carry out a review and that was published on 30 September. There is a bespoke site level plan for Limerick as part of the national winter plan.
It must be pointed out that 150 additional beds have been opened in UL Hospitals Group since 1 January 2020 - that is in two years - and 98 of these have been in UHL itself. A suite of 24 single rooms was completed on the UHL site, which operates as a dedicated haematology and oncology unit. A separate temporary building with a 14-bed single room block was also completed. A 60-bed block, which comprises four storeys with three inpatient wards of 20 en suite single rooms over basement level was opened in phases in late 2020 and early 2021. We are going to do everything we can to accelerate the capacity.