Tag Archives: University Hospital Limerick

  A young Clare surfer has died following what has been described as a “tragic accident” in the sea off the West Clare coast. The surfer, who was accompanied by three friends, some of whom are also believed to be part of the local surfing community, went surfing in Lough Donnell beach off the coast between Doonbeg and Quilty between 6.30am and 7am on Monday, July 5. It is understood that the surfer got into some difficulty while he was in the water, his friends administered CPR and called the emergency services around 8am. The emergency services arrived and he was airlifted by the Shannon-based Coast Guard helicopter R115 for emergency medical treatment to University Hospital Limerick (UHL). He was pronounced dead on Monday afternoon. It is expected a post-mortem will be held in the coming days and a file will then be prepared for the county coroner, Isobel O’Dea.  Clare Gardaí has described the incident as a “tragic accident”. According to …

There is major concern for the welfare of a local surfer, who has been airlifted for emergency medical treatment to University Hospital Limerick (UHL). The Shannon-based Coast Guard helicopter R115 this morning transferred a man to University Hospital Limerick. According to a press statement issued by the Irish Coast Guard, the casualty got into difficulty while surfing in Lough Donnell, Quilty, CPR was administered to the casualty on scene and on route to hospital. The man is understood to have been a well known local lifeguard. It is believed that members of his family have been contacted to come to the UHL.    

TRIBUTES have been paid to the legacy of an award-winning “community leader” in South-East Clare. A veil of sadness descended in O’Briensbridge last week following the death of former community group chairperson, Mick Murtagh (82), in University Hospital Limerick (UHL). Councillor Tony O’Brien said Mr Murtagh was a very passionate about his local community. “Mick Murtagh worked that passion to make a huge contribution to his community. He worked tirelessly and selflessly for the betterment of others. He was a leader in community activity.” O’Brien’sbridge community group chairperson, Margaret O’Connor, said it was with great sadness and regret that people learned of the sudden passing of their dear friend and neighbour, Mick Murtagh. “Mick walked the riverbank daily with his dog, Patch. He was out walking the same route just days before he passed away. “Mick worked tirelessly and passionately on behalf of his beloved communities of Montpelier and O’Brien’sbridge. “His love for his native place was evident in all …

Up to 10,000 scheduled public medical appointments and procedures have been cancelled in the Mid-West following the devastating cyber attack on the HSE’s information technology systems. The UL Hospitals’ Group has warned widespread service disruption will continue into a fourth week due to the impact of the criminal cyber attack. In a statement issued to the Clare Champion, the group confirmed it is working hard with local and national teams to restore information technology systems. Systems are being restored based on clinical priority and progress will be gradual. To date, approximately 10,000 patients have had scheduled appointments or procedures cancelled and outpatient appointments and elective surgeries remain cancelled until further notice. Record numbers have been attending the Emergency Department at University Hospital Limerick (UHL) this week and less urgent patients are being advised to expect delays and to consider alternative options to access healthcare before attending ED. Service disruptions continue in University Hospital Limerick, University Maternity Hospital, Limerick, Ennis Hospital, …

Impact of cyber attack ‘bigger than Covid-19’ PUBLIC health services in Clare and the Mid-West will be impacted for a number of weeks while HSE information technology staff work around the clock dealing with the havoc wreaked by the cyber attack. UL Hospitals’ Group, chief clinical director, Professor Brian Lenehan has stated even when all information technology systems are safe and operational, staff will still be taken up dealing with the backlog that has to be inputted into their system. It is expected the impact of this cyber attack will continue to disrupt public health services over the coming weeks. Professor Lenehan has revealed the impact of the cyber attack is much bigger than Covid-19, because it had adversely affected their information systems throughout the public health service. He recalled that Covid-19 placed a focus on managing critical care and treating very sick patients, but it wasn’t as widespread as what has transpired since the cyber attack. While urgent and …

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 UL Hospitals’ Group has appealed to patients attending the Emergency Department (ED) in University Hospital Limerick to bring medical information that will assist staff while HSE information technology (IT) systems are down following the cyber attack. This includes any document or record such as the patient’s Medical Record Number (MRN) or Patient Chart Number (PCN). This information is usually on a sticker on hospital documentation, or on medications or prescriptions, or any hospital discharge information from a previous time spent in hospital. Services across the Group continue to be adversely impacted by the cyber attack on HSE IT systems. This extends to widespread cancellations in scheduled care across six public hospitals including University Hospital Limerick (UHL), University Maternity Hospital Limerick, Ennis Hospital, Nenagh Hospital, St John’s Hospital and Croom Orthopaedic Hospital. All outpatient clinics are cancelled. This includes paediatric outpatient appointments. All elective inpatient and day case procedures are cancelled. This is with the exception of time-critical cases and …

A NURSING union has requested the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) to conduct an external inquiry to establish why overcrowding is so high in University Hospital Limerick (UHL), despite the provision of almost 100 extra in-patient beds. The nurses and midwives’ union called for HIQA to investigate what is going wrong at the hospital and make recommendations to alleviate pressure. UHL has been the most overcrowded hospital in Ireland every day this year. It had the highest overall number of patients waiting for care without beds in 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2020. The INMO said that “despite significant recruitment and 100+ additional acute beds”, the hospital still faced “runaway” overcrowding. On Friday, 52 patients were on trolleys in UHL, more than treble the number in any other hospital in the state. INMO Assistant Director of Industrial Relations, Mary Fogarty, said frontline staff are at their wits’ end. The hospital has recruited extra staff and secured a hundred extra beds. …