Strategic plan to tackle overcrowding at University Hospital Limerick to be developed
INSPECTIONS are to take place at University Hospital Limerick (UHL) to develop a strategic plan to address capacity issues at the Mid-West facility.
Health Minister Stephen Donnelly said that the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) has received an evaluation of the current factors influencing crowding in the emergency department from the Hospital Group CEO.
The information was given to Deputy Michael McNamara, who made the call for an independent inquiry into ongoing overcrowding at the hospital.
“Hospital management and staff appear to be firefighting on the issue of overcrowding as opposed to identifying and rectifying the issues that are causing the problem,” the Clare TD said.
He stressed that the problem of overcrowding in Limerick has worsened since the delivery of the 60-bed modular ward block, an additional 38 inpatient beds and delivery of a 96-bed replacement ward block.
“There also needs to be an assessment of admission and discharge policies at UHL, as well as the impact of population growth on the demand for services within the UL Hospitals Group," he said.
Responding to Deputy McNamara, Minister Donnelly said surge capacity had been opened to manage the “extremely high levels of activity” being experienced at UHL.
He added that the UL Hospital Group have reported that they are continuing to deal with high volumes of patients attending the University Hospital Limerick ED.
“University Hospital Limerick is working to ensure that care is prioritised for the sickest patients," Minister Donnelly stated.