Tag Archives: Colette Cowan

WORK has commenced on delivering the new €90 million 96-Bed Block at University Hospital Limerick, which will result in a net increase of 48 new in-patient beds. However, the UL Hospitals’ Group has confirmed this new extension will take at least two years to complete and the new facility will then have to be equipped and commissioned before opening to patients. Described by the group as the next step in increasing acute bed capacity in the Mid-West, the new 9,800 square-metre block will be built over the existing Emergency Department and Dialysis Unit and will consist of 96 en-suite single rooms over four floors. Approximately half of the beds will be new beds for inpatients while the remainder will be replacement beds allowing the hospital to close or refurbish some of the more outdated inpatient accommodation on the site. This will allow for greater compliance with national guidelines and international best practice on infection prevention and control. Speaking in Limerick …

REDUCTIONS in scheduled care across UL Hospitals Group have been extended for a further week as high levels of Covid-19 related staff absences mean emergency and time-critical care must be prioritised. This Friday, January 7 a total of 675 staff (whole-time equivalents) or approximately 13% of the UL Hospitals Group workforce are unavailable for work for reasons relating to Covid-19. The Hospital Crisis Management Team this Friday confirmed the deferral of the majority of scheduled surgery and outpatient appointments across its hospitals from Monday, January 10 until Friday, January 14. This includes University Hospital Limerick, Ennis Hospital, Nenagh Hospital, St John’s Hospital, and Croom Orthopaedic Hospital. Services at University Maternity Hospital Limerick are unaffected. All impacted patients are being contacted directly by the hospital. Staff absences continue to rise as a result of the current surge in Covid-19 and this is having an adverse impact on service delivery. This includes staff who are positive, closes contacts, those restricting movements or …

    VOLUNTEERS are being sought from Clare to help improve services across UL Hospitals’ Group by joining the Patient Council. The Patient Council was established in 2016 and provides an independent voice for patients, service users and their families. It gives patients and members of the public the opportunity to become involved as active partners in UL Hospitals’ Group and advise hospital management on improving patient experience. The council comprises volunteers from the general public as well as members of the hospital management team. It is currently looking to increase the number of public and expressions of interest are sought from people who have had experience of University Hospital Limerick, Ennis Hospital, Nenagh Hospital, Croom Orthopaedic Hospital or University Maternity Hospital Limerick. John Hannafin, Chairman of the Patient Council, said that in the course of its ordinary work and through its engagement on a wide range of hospital committees- including nutrition and hydration, the National Inpatient Experience Survey, End-of-Life …

  A second round of Walk-In First-Dose Pfizer Covid-19 Vaccination Clinics will be held at designated centres this weekend for people aged 16-years and older who have not yet been vaccinated. The local clinics are being hosted in the vaccination centres in Limerick Racecourse, Treacy’s County Hotel, Ennis, and the Abbey Court Hotel, Nenagh, as part of a national effort triggered by the HSE nationally, in light of the success of the walk-in clinics held in vaccination centres nationwide during the August Bank Holiday. Clinics in the three Mid-West Covid-19 Vaccination Centres will be held at set times from Friday, August 6th to Sunday August 8th. They include Limerick Racecourse from 2pm to 7pm; and Abbey Court Hotel, Nenagh from 2pm to 7pm on Friday, August 6. People can call into the West County Hotel, Ennis from 8.15am to 12.30pm on Saturday. On Sunday August 8th the Limerick Racecourse will be administering the vaccine from 10am to 12.30pm and 1pm …

ALMOST 120,000 doses of vaccines against Covid-19 have been delivered across the Mid-West, the UL Hospitals’ Group has revealed. In the week ending Sunday June 6th, a total of 9,787 doses of Covid-19 vaccine were administered in the group’s Covid-19 Vaccination Centres in Treacy’s West County Hotel, Ennis, 2,001, and the Radisson Blu Hotel Limerick, 7,786. This is in addition to the delivery of 110,127 doses of vaccine across the Mid-West up to the close of business on Tuesday, June 2. Of this amount, 77,777 doses were delivered at the Radisson Blu Meelick; 18,167 doses at Treacy’s West County Hotel, Ennis and 14,183 doses at the Abbey Court Hotel, Nenagh. Vaccinations at the Radisson Blu ceased on Saturday afternoon, June 5th. The Limerick area vaccination centre has been relocated to Limerick Racecourse at Patrickswell, Co Limerick, where it opened to the public last Tuesday. With a maximum capacity of 46 vaccination booths, the Limerick Racecourse centre will run alongside the …

CLARE people are being urged to continue following public health guidelines to minimise the spread of Covid-19 as acute hospitals in the region struggle to cope with the severe impact of the cyber attack on HSE information technology systems. The UL Hospitals’ Group has confirmed the number of Covid-19 positve patients admitted to University Hospital Limerick (UHL) has increased from two to 14 from May 13 to May 20. While the group stressed these figures should be interpreted with a large degree of caution, their clinicians are reporting an increase in Covid-19 related activity presenting to the ED at a time when the department, and all acute hospital services, are facing massive disruption as a result of last week’s cyber attack. The group continue to follow all national guidance on Covid-19 testing and we continue to take all the necessary infection control precautions. Separate Covid-19 and non-Covid-19 pathways remain in place for all patients attending the ED. The effects of …

THE first Clare patients will be treated in the new Outpatients’ Department (OPD) for Ennis Hospital from today (Monday). With a total floor space of 1,300 square metres, the new OPD in Ennis has 15 clinical rooms, in addition to a phlebotomy bay, four waiting areas, offices and staff changing rooms. The new department, which has an equipping allocation of €900,000 for 2021, will allow for the relocation of services such as cardiac rehabilitation and, later this year, radiology and general x-ray. All activity in the OPD is scheduled and operates on an appointment-only basis. Situated at Westpoint Retail Park on the Kilrush Road, the new department will initially house the services currently based in Ennis Hospital, and also allow for the expansion of outpatient services into the future and a better patient experience. Greater capacity, in addition to facilities that are future-proofed with ongoing advances in telehealth, will assist with efforts to reduce waiting periods and manage waiting lists. …

PATIENTS are being discharged from a new 60-bed block unit at University Hospital Limerick (UHL) without adequate planning for step down supports, a local deputy has claimed. Deputy Cathal Crowe is calling on the HSE to ensure that an official discharge co-ordinator is put in place for the new 60-bed block. At present, the role is not filled for the €19.5 million modular unit at UHL, which began taking patients in late 2020 and hospital management have no plans to appoint a new person to this post. “I have been raising the issue of a lack of a discharge co-ordinator for this block both in the Oireachtas Health Committee and with Colette Cowan, CEO of the UL Hospitals’ Group,” said Deputy Crowe. “Several families of patients and workers in the system have been in contact with me highlighting the fact that where a patient is being discharged, there’s very little in terms of stepdown planning for having supports in place …