UL Hospitals Group have confirmed that outpatient appointments and elective procedures will go ahead as scheduled in the majority of cases tomorrow, Monday, May 17, at University Hospital Limerick (UHL), Ennis Hospital, Nenagh Hospital, St John’s Hospital and University Maternity Hospital Limerick.
In a statement issued this afternoon, the group have advised that patients should attend their appointment/procedure unless contacted directly by the hospital and advised otherwise.
The Emergency Department (ED) at UHL continues to operate 24-7, but is very busy. Members of the public are reminded to consider all care options and only attend the ED in an emergency.
The statement went on to advise, “Non urgent patients may experience significant delays. Injury Units are operating in Ennis Hospital and Nenagh Hospital and are open from 8am to 8pm and St John’s Hospital from 8am to 7pm. The Maternity Emergency Unit is available 24-7 and the Early Pregnancy Assessment Unit continues to operate an appointment only service.
“Patients are advised to pay attention to updates as we expect that services are likely to be further disrupted early next week. Updates on service disruptions will be posted to the HSE Service Disruption Website https://www2.hse.ie/services/hospital-service-disruptions/hse-it-system-cyber-attack.html and on the following twitter accounts @ulhospitals and @hselive and we encourage patients to check on these sites for the most up to date information.
The UHL Group has apologised to patients who are experiencing delays and disruptions to their service and said, “In the context of the ongoing attack on our IT systems, we are also asking our GP colleagues to refrain from sending routine blood samples (e.g. weekly, monthly, six-monthly) to our laboratories until further notice. Sampling is currently limited to urgent requests relating to the immediate management of patients.
“The HSE IT teams are working to map out what systems can be brought back online in a safe way and we will issue further advice in due course.”
A native of Ennis, Colin McGann has been editor of The Clare Champion since August 2020. Former editor of The Clare People, he is a journalism and communications graduate of Dublin Institute of Technology.