Patients travel as far as Dublin for treatment to avoid Limerick hospital overcrowding
Linehan Most Hospital Last Hospital Country Dan Overcrowded On Was With 1,596 Month The picture: University Trolleys Patients The Again In Limerick
People requiring medical attention, including for potential heart attacks, are delaying or refusing treatment, while others are going as far as Dublin to avoid University Hospital Limerick (UHL) amid the worst trolley figures on record.
UHL was the most overcrowded hospital in the country again last month with 1,596 patients on trolleys, according to figures from the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation.
Dr Yvonne Williams, a GP in Shannon, said people in the community who require medical attention are refusing to go to UHL, with some opting to go as far as Galway and Cork for treatment despite Cork being the second-most overcrowded hospital last month with 1,334 patients on trolleys.
“Some will actually choose to access the private emergency departments perhaps up in Dublin rather than putting themselves through the system here,” she said, adding that some are delaying seeking treatment altogether due to previous experience.
"They’ve been in there before, they’ve spent a day or two on a chair or a trolley, and they simply wouldn’t go through it again,” she told RTÉ radio.
Dr Williams said the conditions at UHL are “intolerable” for healthcare workers who are “overworked” and “at risk of burnout”, while the setting can be stressful for patients and their families.
She said the conditions and staff shortages are leading to a lowering in the standard of care, adding that there is no cohesive plan from the Government to address the shortage of medical professionals in Ireland, adding that it is hard to see “the light at the end of the tunnel".
Meanwhile, new figures published by acting Justice Minister Heather Humphreys show gardaí have responded to more than 5,000 reports of criminal incidents at the country’s hospitals since 2018.
The highest number (682) occurred in emergency departments and other healthcare facilities located in Dublin’s South Central Garda Division, while more than one in 10 (546) were reported in the North Central Division.
A total of 378 criminal incidents were reported at hospitals located in the Cork City Division, and 341 occurred in Galway. Limerick accounted for 309 of the incidents reported at healthcare facilities during the same period, according to the data which was published by Ms Humphreys.
The statistics show that gardaí are attending hospitals to deal with reports of criminal incidents an average of 20 times every week.
They also reveal that gardaí have attended hospitals in response to reports of criminal incidents 1,052 times to date this year — 22% more than in the whole of 2021.
While the nature of the incidents was not specified, the HSE recently revealed that its healthcare staff had been the subject of verbal, physical, or sexual assault on 4,763 occasions last year.