The Clare Champion Clare news, sport, entertainment and local notes
CLARE patients are facing inordinate waiting times for public hospital treatment as 97 patients are without a bed in University Hospital Limerick on Tuesday, the highest number recorded in any Irish hospital since records began.
The INMO has once again called on the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) to investigate the overcrowding issue at the hospital.
Mary Fogarty, INMO Assistant Director of Industrial Relations said the current trolley numbers in University Hospital Limerick are extremely concerning.
“Time and time again, University Hospital Limerick is the most overcrowded hospital in Ireland.
“Despite major investment in capacity at the hospital, it is making no dent in the consistent overcrowding problem in the hospital. Overcrowding adds stress for staff and worsens patient care. It is high-risk in normal times, but even more so during a pandemic.”
“The INMO is once again calling on HIQA to urgently investigate the overcrowding issue in the hospital and make recommendations.
“The patients and nurses at University Hospital Limerick deserve better than these conditions. It has been an extremely difficult 22 months since Covid-19 first arrived on our shores but UHL was already overstretched without being dealt with the hand of a pandemic.
“The staff, patients and wider community in Limerick need to be assured that the long-standing issues at UHL will be resolved.”
The UL Hospitals’ Group has consistently cited an increase in the number of people presenting at the ED in UHL as one of the main contributory factors to chronic overcrowding.
By Dan Danaher
