PRESSURE is growing on the UL Hospitals’ Group to address chronic overcrowding at University of Limerick (UHL) amid calls for an external review to establish why the addition of almost 100 beds hasn’t had the desired impact.
The number of patients on trolleys in UHL has reached 81 in recent weeks; there were 52 patients waiting for a bed on Friday and 44 on Wednesday.
Responding to Clare Champion queries, the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) confirmed it is closely monitoring information related to large numbers of patients in UHL’s emergency department.
HIQA said it is awaiting a response on the issue from the group. The Clare Champion has learned the HSE has told the Irish Nurses and Midwives’ Organisation it is viewing the overcrowding as a serious issue and has sought a response from the group.
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26th April 2021
University Hospital Limerick emergency department
Nurses at the region’s main hospital say the ongoing pandemic is no excuse for the continued overcrowding in the facility’s emergency department.
It’s after the INMO called on HIQA to urgently investigate the issue at University Hospital Limerick, following a week where an average of 57 people were waiting for a bed there each day.
There had been hopes that the opening of more than beds and significant recruitment would ease pressures at UHL, but the UL Hospitals Group has stated that attendances at the emergency department ‘have never been higher’.
Nursing Union Seek Inquiry Into Overcrowding At UHL clarechampion.ie - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from clarechampion.ie Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
INMO Calling For Urgent Investigation Into Overcrowding at University Hospital Limerick
The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation now wants HIQA to make recommendations to alleviate the pressure.
INMO Assistant Director of Industrial Relations, Mary Fogarty, says management haven t been able to explain why overcrowding is still such an issue: It is a cause of significant concern to our members and to the clinical nurse managers working in the hospital whereby we called for a crisis meeting with management at the hospital yesterday. At this meeting, we didn receive any proposals from management in respect of how they propose to address the situation, or provide a reason for the continued overcrowding, despite the fact that there are significant additional beds on site.