New measures to alleviate overcrowding at University Hospital ...
Minister Stephen Donnelly announces measures to alleviate overcrowding at UHL. Minister for Health, Stephen Donnelly visited University Hospital Limerick (UHL) this week where he met with management, including Regional Executive Officer Sandra Broderick and the Health Service Executive (HSE) CEO Bernard Gloster. Pic: Don Moloney
The Minister for Health met with management, including Regional Executive Officer Sandra Broderick, the Health Service Executive (HSE) CEO Bernard Gloster, as well as consultants and other clinical leaders.
Nationally, so far this year we have seen a 11.5 per cent (37k) increase in the number of people presenting at Emergency Departments (EDs) versus the same period in 2023. For those aged 75+ patient group the increase is 16% (7,000).
In spite of this, additional capacity coupled with on-going reforms mean that the number of patients on trollies has fallen by 10.4 per cent (3.3k).
UHL has consistently the highest number of people waiting on trollies for admittance to a hospital bed in the country.
In 2024 to date, 17 per cent of those who waited on trollies did so at UHL, a hospital which has 6 per cent of Emergency Department attendances, and 6 per cent of attendances of those over 75 years. In 2024 the hospital has seen a 14 per cent (2.4k) increase in the number of people presenting at ED versus the same period in 2023; with the number of patients on trolleys has increased by 49 per cent (1.6k).
Minister Donnelly said, “This continued problem is not acceptable to me as Minister, and it most certainly is not acceptable to the people of this region. In an effort to alleviate the problem I have agreed with the HSE a number of measures which will, I hope, help.”
The measures include the initiation of a procurement process for the operation of the new 50-bed Community Nursing Unit in Nenagh for one year until the opening of the first 96-bed block. Additionally, 20 permanent step-down transition and rehab beds will be procured in Clare, and 16 fast-build beds are to be commissioned onsite to address winter surges.
The opening hours of the region’s three Acute Medical Assessment Units will be extended to 24/7, and safe staffing will be implemented across all wards in UHL. UHL is slated to be one of two national test sites for Acute Virtual Wards, while also offering GP and Advanced Nurse Practitioner-on-the-door services at the ED to mitigate overcrowding and enhance timely treatment for urgent and emergency patients.
The Mid West Hospital Campaign has responded to the announcement, saying they welcomed any new measures “no matter how small”, but described the possible impact of the measures as “sticking plasters” over the issues.
Speaking about the additional beds announced, Mary Cahillane, a MWHC member said, “This figure is just a drop in the ocean and far short of the 250 or so new beds that are required in UHL. To add insult to injury, none of these old or newly announced beds will be available until at least 2025. How many people are going to die on trolleys in the Midwest while we wait for these beds to come on stream?”
The Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly was met with a protest ahead of his visit to UHL on Thursday, April 4, 2024.Minister Donnely did note, “These measures have proved to be successful when deployed in Waterford, Mullingar, Beaumont and elsewhere and I expect that they will be successful when they are rolled out here in Limerick.
“Reform and change are difficult, they challenge us all, but reform and change are required here in UHL if we are to provide the service the people of this region expect and deserve.”
The group also claims the comparisons made by Minister Donnelly were “false comparisons”.
The group noted Minister Donnelly described how measures similar to those announced at UHL had “proved to be successful when deployed in Waterford, Mullingar, Beaumont and elsewhere” in reducing trolley numbers.
Ms Cahillane argued that these were “false comparisons as he fails to mention the comparative health provision in these areas.”
Marie McMahon from the Clare wing of the Mid-West Hospital Campaign, whose husband Tommy Wynne died on a trolley in UHL in 2018, replied to Minister Donnelly’s comparisons by saying, “We are not comparing like for like here and it is disingenuous of the Minister to make these comparisons. Waterford has a Model 4 hospital, but also has access to 4 model 3’s and 1 model 4 (Cork) in under an hour.
“Mullingar has a Model 3 hospital and seven emergency departments within an hour’s travel time. Beaumont is a Model 4 hospital and similarly has the support of seven hospitals with emergency departments within an hour’s distance.”
“So while the suite of measures may be successful in areas that are well serviced by other hospitals, the Midwest remains the only region in the country without a Model 3 hospital and serviced by a single Model 4 hospital. This is the demonstrably overstretched UHL, which provides the only emergency department to cater for 420,000 people. Until such a time as the Minister accepts this reality and stops spinning, it’s clear that very little will actually change.”
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