Limerick records worst overcrowding any hospital has seen as CUH warns of A&E delays
Linehan Picture: 97 The Trolleywatch Inmo’s Are To Currently A Bed, Patients Dan According In There Figures Without Uhl
University Hospital Limerick (UHL) today recorded the highest number of patients without beds in any Irish hospital since the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) began compiling trolley figures.
There are currently 97 patients in UHL without a bed, according to the organisation’s TrolleyWatch figures.
The INMO has called on the Health Information and Quality Authority (Hiqa) to investigate the overcrowding at UHL, saying their trolley numbers are “extremely concerning”.
“Time and time again, University Hospital Limerick is the most overcrowded hospital in Ireland,” said Mary Fogarty, INMO Assistant Director of Industrial Relations.
Ms Fogarty said despite major investment in capacity at the hospital, “it is making no dent in the consistent overcrowding problem in the hospital”.
“The INMO is once again calling on Hiqa to urgently investigate the overcrowding issue in the hospital and make recommendations,” she said.
Ms Fogarty added that both staff and patients at UHL deserve better conditions and people in the wider community of Limerick “need to be assured that the long-standing issues at UHL will be resolved”.
Meanwhile, Cork University Hospital said its emergency department is “exceptionally busy” today and warned of delays in getting treated.
“The increase in attendance is due to the large number of very ill medical patients requiring admission,” a hospital spokeswoman said.
There were 57 patients on trolleys in CUH according to the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation. The HSE said on Monday there were 32 Covid-patients in the hospital including four in ICU.
The hospital has asked that when possible patients contact other services first including the Mercy Urgent Care centre in the city, local injury units in Mallow or Bantry, GPs or the Southdoc out of hours service.