Tag Archives: emergency department

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, …

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. …

AS the 14-day incidence of Covid-19 continues to fall in Clare, the UL Hospitals’ Group has confirmed it has treated 1,241 confirmed cases over a one-year period. According to figures produced by the National Disease Surveillance Centre, there were 533 cases recorded in Limerick, 167 in Clare and 306 in Tipperary from February 16 to March 1. However, the number of Covid-19 cases in the Mid-West dropped from February 23 to March 8, with 401 cases recorded in Limerick, 215 in Tipperary and 129 in Clare. The 14-day incidence in Limerick fell from fourth to sixth highest in the country at 205%, compared to Tipperary, which is 14th highest on 134% and Clare is the 15th highest on 108% recently. The national 14-day incidence of the disease was 161% at the time. One year since the first Covid-19-related admission to University Hospital Limerick, the group has confirmed 64 patients required admission to ICU over a 12-month period. Group chief executive, …

A HOSPITAL medic has appealed for people to follow all public health guidelines to curb the increasing spread of Covid-19 as the UL Hospitals’ Group prepares for a surge in admissions of very sick patients with the virus. Visiting bans which were imposed across acute public hospital sites in the Mid-West at the outset of the pandemic in March 2020 remain in force. Prof Brian Lenehan, Chief Clinical Director, UL Hospitals’ Group said the group regretted it is again curtailing scheduled care in their hospitals. He pledged the group will prioritise their most urgent patients for planned procedures and appointments and look forward to increasing this activity as soon as possible. “We have commenced vaccinating hospital staff against Covid-19 as part of the biggest such mass vaccination campaign ever seen in Ireland. It gives our staff such a sense of optimism that we are at the beginning of the end of this pandemic. “They know what they are potentially facing …

UL Hospitals Group is urging members of the public to consider all care options before attending the Emergency Department (ED) at University Hospital Limerick (UHL). The hospital is currently managing high volumes of patients including many unwell elderly patients with medical conditions who have presented to the ED over recent days. In a statement UL Hospitals Group said, “We are sorry that any admitted patient faces a long wait for a bed and we are working to ensure that all patients continue to receive expert medical care while they are waiting. “We have opened surge capacity at UHL and we are appropriately transferring patients to other hospitals in our Group, and to the non-acute Intermediate Care Facility (ICF) at the University of Limerick (UL). “The public have an important role to play in helping us to ensure the ED is prioritised for the most seriously ill and severely injured people who need it most. People must consider all care options …

A BACKLOG in elective medical procedures caused by Covid-19 restrictions means that Ennis General Hospital must be upgraded and have its 24/7 Emergency Department restored, Clare County Councillors have claimed. At the July meeting of the local authority, Councillor Donna McGettigan tabled a motion calling on the new health minister to upgrade the facility to a Model Three, meaning that it would have capacity to perform more complex procedures as well as having a round-the-clock Casualty Department. “The pandemic has brought a whole new urgency to the situation,” the Sinn Féin member said. “Around the country, there are 2,700 people waiting for urgent bowel cancer tests, 300 of them over 90 days. People are dying on waiting lists and we have to act otherwise people will suffer irreparable and life-changing damage. Ennis General really needs to be upgraded to respond to the situation.” The motion was seconded by Councillor Johnny Flynn. “As a member of the Ennis Hospital Action Group, …

UL Hospitals Group is reminding members of the public to consider all their care options before presenting to the Emergency Department at UHL today, Wednesday July 15. “In recent days, we have seen high volumes of patients attending, including many frail elderly patients requiring admission. In the 24-hour period up to 8am on July 15, a total of 215 patients attended the Emergency Department.  There were 232 attendances in the previous 24-hour period. The average number of daily attendances during 2019 was 195,” UHL said in a statement. “At 8am this morning there were 35 admitted patients in the ED waiting were a bed. In addition there were a further 23 patients in our two assessment units waiting for admission. The majority of these patients are in single rooms or assessment bays.  A total of 8 of these patients were on trolleys on corridors between these three locations. Every effort is made to ensure physical distancing is maintained and to …

Injury Units in Nenagh and Ennis Hospitals and St John’s Limerick will play a vital role in UL Hospitals Group’s ring-fencing of the Emergency Department (ED) at University Hospital Limerick (UL) for treatment of Covid-19 cases and other seriously ill patients during the ongoing public health emergency. As de-escalation of the region’s main acute hospital continues in anticipation of the Covid-19 surge, all patients with minor injuries—such as suspected broken bones, cuts, bruises, sprains and strains—will be redirected to the Injury Units in Nenagh, Ennis and St John’s for treatment. To support this redirection of minor injury work, the injury unit at St John’s is moving from five-day to seven-day opening. From Saturday March 28th, the facility opened from 8am to 7pm on weekends and the unit’s weekday opening hours were also extended, with the facility open until 7pm every day. Dr Gareth Quin, Consultant in Emergency Medicine at UHL and St John’s Hospital Injury Unit, encouraged patients with minor …