Tag Archives: patients

Non-critical patients can now be transferred directly by ambulance to the Medical Assessment Unit in Ennis Hospital as part of a new pilot project to ease chronic overcrowding at University Hospital Limerick. Paramedics were left with no option but to transport all Clare patients directly to UHL via ambulance following the controversial removal of 24-hour casualty cover from Ennis and Nenagh Hospitals in April 2009. The Mid-West Hospital Campaign has been informed this new emergency pathway will be accessible from Monday to Friday from 8am to 6pm Monday to Friday, excluding public holidays. The patient must meet agreed clinical criteria and has to be accepted by the MAU physician in Ennis Hospital. The Mid-West Hospital Campaign has welcomed this announcement as a “stepping stone in the right direction” towards its desired objective concerning the return of around the clock emergency cover at Ennis and Nenagh Hospitals. A spokesperson thanked all the people involved in the Friends of Ennis Hospital, “Nenagh …

AN Outbreak Control Team has been established at University Hospital Limerick after one patient and one member of staff on Ward 3B tested positive for Covid-19 this Tuesday ( August 19). Contact tracing and testing is currently underway and all appropriate infection prevention and control measures are being followed in line with the national HPSC guidance. A number of staff from the ward at the centre of what we believe to be a localised outbreak have been identified as contacts. They have been asked to stay off work and to self-isolate in line with national guidance.  Initial testing of all patient contacts is complete and has not identified further cases. Initial testing of all staff contacts is expected to be complete tomorrow. All patients on the ward in question have been informed of the outbreak. Noreen Spillane, Chief Operations Officer, UL Hospitals Group, said: “Hospitals have been preparing for these situations for many months and we have now established an …

Patients in the Ul Hospitals Group (ULHG) Intermediate Care Facility (ICF) at the University of Limerick (UL) are benefiting from a holistic, multidisciplinary approach to their ongoing rehabilitation when they are transferred to the facility from the group’s acute hospitals. The ICF was opened on June 8 in the reconfigured main hall of the UL Sport Arena, a fully equipped temporary hospital setting for non Covid-19 or post Covid-19 patients who no longer require acute medical attention, but who can benefit from ongoing rehabilitation and support before final discharge. In the ICF rehabilitation is the primary focus, based on a rounded, holistic vision of healthcare and wellbeing. Medical and healthcare expertise is directed toward supporting the patient’s readiness for discharge, not just physically building their strength and communication skills, but also preparing them mentally and helping to ensure their home or residential care setting is optimised before their discharge. The 68-bed ICF, which has capacity to scale up to 84 …

 UL Hospitals Group is extending until March 29 the visiting ban in place across all their hospital sites, in line with the Government decision to close all schools, colleges and childcare facilities. “We regret that so many people have been unable to visit their loved ones in hospital, and we acknowledge the impact of loneliness and isolation on people in our care at this time, particularly elderly people. “We have drop-off & collection services available to help people get important personal items to and from their relatives in hospital. Security staff at University Hospital Limerick and reception staff at Croom, Nenagh, Ennis, and St John’s Hospitals will be happy to assist with queries about this service,” a spokesperson for UL Hospitals Group said. The only exceptions to the visitor ban are as follows (with a strict limit of one visitor per patient): partners of women attending University Maternity Hospital Limerick parents visiting children in hospital people visiting patients at end-of-life …

Patients from North Clare and South Galway who had scheduled orthopaedic surgery at Merlin Park Hospital, Galway, are facing longer waiting times, as a result of a leak on the roof of a building accommodating two theatres. Hospital management has admitted it will not be possible to restore orthopaedic theatre surgery for a number of weeks. Up to 80 patients, who were scheduled for surgery, have been rescheduled to a later date. More patients will be contacted with cancellations over the coming weeks, until the service is re-established. Staff from theatres and the wards have been reassigned to Merlin Park and UHG into existing vacancies, which have to be filled in the short term. Describing the cancellations as “unfortunate”at a recent HSE West Forum West meeting, forum chairperson Councillor Mary Hoade said about 70 surgeries nwere carried out in Merlin Park, while there are more than 800 inpatients on the day case waiting list, with 56 reaching the 15-month waiting …

IRELAND’S first ever National Patient Experience Survey, which began on Monday and continues until the end of the month, affords adult acute hospital inpatients a chance to describe their experiences and suggest improvements. UL Hospitals Group is part of this joint initiative between the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA), the HSE and the Department of Health. During May, adult patients who are discharged from a public acute hospital during this month are being invited to participate in the survey. Up to 27,000 patients nationally will be eligible to take part making this the largest single survey of the healthcare system in Ireland. In excess of 2,000 of these patients will be asked to describe their experiences in University Hospital Limerick, Ennis Hospital, Nenagh Hospital, St John’s Hospital and Croom Orthopaedic Hospital. Maternal health and paediatric services do not come under the ambit of the current survey. Patients will be asked 61 questions on topics such as confidence and trust …

The first ever National Patient Experience Survey has been launched this morning (Wednesday) by Minister for Health Simon Harris. This survey gives patients an opportunity to describe their experiences in order for this information to be used to improve our health service. Commencing on 1 May 2017, all adult patients who are discharged from a public acute hospital during this month will be invited to participate in the survey. Up to 27,000 patients will be eligible to take part, making this the largest single survey of the healthcare system in Ireland. Patients will be asked 61 questions on topics such as confidence and trust in hospital staff, hospital food, care and treatment, and whether their medications and possible side-effects were explained before discharge from hospital. A joint initiative by the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA), the Health Service Executive (HSE) and the Department of Health, the National Patient Experience Survey Programme will use data collected from the survey to …

A NEW dermatology clinic in Ennis Hospital has spared Clare patients the time and expense of regular trips to University Hospital Limerick. The clinic, run once a month by locum consultant dermatologist Dr Maeve Lynch and Sheila Ryan, advanced nurse practitioner in dermatology, can accommodate up to 20 outpatients per clinic. “It is a general dermatology seeing all the common skin conditions such as eczema, psoriasis and acne and skin cancer patients. We see patients of every age from birth up to the elderly,” said Dr Lynch. “The clinic started in September 2016 and we are running it once a month. The aim is to improve access for patients in Clare to save them having to travel in to Limerick. It has just started but we are pleased with how it has been going so far,” added Dr Lynch. Patricia O’Gorman, Operational Director of Nursing, Ennis Hospital, noted: “It is part of the strategy for the UL Hospitals Group that …