Tag Archives: Colette Cowan

ATTENDANCES at the Emergency Department at UHL increased in the week ending January 6 and are expected to rise further in the coming weeks. High volumes of elderly patients with medical conditions, in particular respiratory conditions, have been presenting in recent days and the number of flu cases has also begun to rise. There were 1,301 attendances to the ED at UHL between December 24 and December 30 and this rose to 1,343 attendances in the seven-day period December 31 to January 6. The Christmas/New Year period has also proven busy for the Injury Units Ennis, St John’s and Nenagh hospitals. Between December 24 and January 1 there were a total of 790 attendances to the three units combined, an aggregate increase of 6.5%. The numbers attending at Ennis were 245 (-18); at Nenagh 251 (+21) and at St John’s 294 (+45). “The hospital is currently operating at capacity and all available surge capacity is in use. Initiatives introduced under the winter plan  – such as expanding …

FAMILIES who have lost a child now have a place to remember their loved ones with the completion of a Children’s Remembrance Area in the Chapel at University Hospital Limerick. The project was the concept of parent Theresa Noonan, whose daughter Katherine died under the care of Hilary Noonan, Children’s Outreach Nurse, UHL, and the Milford Home Care Team. It has been developed by the Paediatric End-of-Life Care Committee at UHL and opened  by Sister Helen Culhane, founder of the Children’s Grief Centre in Limerick. The centre-piece of the new area is the Children’s Book of Remembrance, which is kept in a cabinet beautifully crafted by Mark Griffin and funded with a grant from Milford Care Centre Compassionate Communities. The specially commissioned stained glass was designed by Alexander Vugs from Ildanach Studios in Cork. The stained glass has many different shapes and colours which represents the uniqueness and individuality of each child remembered. This was kindly sponsored by the Brosnan family …

UL Hospitals has become the first group in the country to produce a Major Emergency Plan. A major emergency is defined as any incident, usually with little or no warning, which overwhelms the ability of an organisation to respond. Major emergency planning is built into key public services in Ireland and inter-agency plans – involving collaboration between health authorities, local authorities and An Garda Siochana at a regional and national level – have long been in existence. Major emergency plans provide staff with roles and responsibilities in the event of the declaration of a major emergency. Individual hospitals have long had them in place but following the formation of hospital groups, it is now a requirement to deliver a plan at group level. “This document provides staff across UL Hospitals with a plan of action in the event of a major emergency being declared and is also a guide on how to implement that plan in a structured, coordinated and …