The Health Minister has confirmed a specialist group is to be set up to examine overcrowding issues at the region’s main hospital.
It’s understood Minister Stephen Donnelly has asked HSE CEO Paul Reid to put an expert team together to assist UL Hospitals Group in dealing with high trolley numbers.
The number of people waiting for beds at University Hospital Limerick has broken Trolley Watch records several times in the last number of months alone, peaking at 126 last Thursday.
Speaking with Clare FM’s Josh Prenderville, Ennistymon native Marie McMahon, who’s a member of the Midwest Hospital Campaign, says any review must incorporate the region’s other facilities in Ennis, Nenagh and St John’s.
Meanwhile, the level of overcrowding at the region’s main hospital is almost double that of the next busiest facility today.
The latest INMO figures show there were 95 patients waiting for beds at University Hospital Limerick this morning, 51 of those in the Emergency Department.
The ‘sustained surge’ in presentations to the ED has resulted in significant reductions to scheduled care this week, with outpatient appointments, elective surgery and diagnostic investigations deferred.
The UL Hospitals Group has said it ‘sincerely regrets’ the reduction in activity, but that moving to its highest level of escalation is a necessary move, with time-critical care for the sickest patients now being prioritised.
