UHL crisis: Delay in Hiqa report on emergency services 'means 12 more months of chaos at UHL'
To Picture: Were For Emergencies Make Gleeson Cancelled At Surgeries Brendan Way University Hospital Limerick
It is disappointing a review of emergency services in Limerick, Clare and North Tipperary will take 12 months, the chair of Friends of Ennis Hospital said.
This comes as trolley numbers plummet at University Hospital Limerick (UHL) after surgeries were cancelled to make way for emergencies.
Hiqa is now preparing to review services to see if a second emergency department (ED) is needed to support UHL but will not report until next summer.
The Co Clare campaign group is among those calling for EDs in smaller hospitals locally to be re-opened.
Chair of the Friends of Ennis Hospital Angela Coll welcomed the review, but said "that means 12 more months of chaos at UHL".
People locally are anxious about the winter, she said.
“My husband was 82 hours on a trolley in June,” she said. “He went in on Sunday, June 23, he was in UHL Sunday to Thursday, and then they transferred him to Ennis [hospital].”
Overcrowding was so severe in UHL this month surgeries and appointments were cancelled across all five hospitals in the group.
On Thursday, just 20 people were without a bed, the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) said.
The HSE’s count similarly showed zero patients on a trolley and 21 on temporary surge beds.
“If the reset works, then well and good but you can’t say yet if it will work, it is too early,” Ms Coll said.
A hospital spokesman said they had now begun increasing services again. The effect on UHL is being “closely monitored”, he said.
“We regret the impact of the decision to suspend appointments and we will work to reschedule these as soon as possible," he added.