Medical Assessment Unit at Limerick hospital extends opening hours to ease overcrowding crisis

THE Medical Assessment Unit at St John's Hospital in Limerick is to extend its opening hours to help ease the pressures on University Hospital Limerick.

The UL Hospitals Group says the unit will now operate seven days a week, rather than five, on a temporary basis. 

The move will facilitate additional GP referrals for medical assessment and members of the public are reminded that patients cannot be seen at the MAUs at St John's Ennis or Nenagh Hospitals without a referral.

The events at UHL over the past month, including the declaring of a "Major Internal Incident" earlier this month led to a response by the hospital group to ensure that non-critical patients be brought to nearby alternative appropriate hospitals.

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While the major internal incident was stood down on Monday, till there are lasting effects on Limerick, Clare and Tipperary medical assessment units.

“These extraordinary measures taken across the group and in the community have helped reduce the extreme levels of overcrowding seen early last week at the UHL Emergency Department”, said a spokesperson for the UL Hospitals Group.

At the moment, all ULHG hospitals are operating above capacity and staff are still on high alert amid a surge of respiratory infection, which the group says “has not yet reached its peak.”

As a result, day surgery at St John’s hospital, as well as hospitals in Nenagh and Ennis, remain cancelled until the end of this week as their day wards have been designated as surge capacity for unwell referred medical patients.

This week, the Department of Public Health Mid-West reported there have been almost 300 cases of RSV in the past four
weeks, with a noticeable increase in adult infections.

Also reported were 968 cases of influenza in the region since December 11, a level of flu not experienced in the Mid-West for
many years while case of Covid-19 are also increasing.

UL Hospitals says Reductions in elective surgery at UHL and at Croom Orthopaedic Hospital remain in force and all patients affected by cancellations are being contacted directly by staff, while visiting restrictions remain in place at UHL.

Injury Units in St John's, Ennis and Nenagh hospitals are operating as normal.