Tag Archives: UHL

ON Wednesday (February 20) 57 patients were waiting for beds at University Limerick Hospital. This was according to INMO Trolley Watch figures. Nation-wide, a total of 442 admitted patients were waiting for beds. Of that figure, 322 are waiting in the emergency department, while 120 are in wards elsewhere in the hospital. Every morning at 8am, INMO members count how many patients are waiting in the Emergency Department for a bed and how many are waiting in wards elsewhere in the hospital. The INMO Trolley Watch counts the number of patients who have been admitted to acute hospitals, but who are waiting for a free bed. These patients are often being treated on trolleys in corridors, but they may also be on chairs, in waiting rooms, or simply wherever there’s space. The INMO started Trolley Watch in 2004.

UL Hospitals Group is asking the public to “consider all of their care options” before attending the Emergency Department at University Hospital Limerick (UHL) this Thursday, while the Injury Unit in Ennis is closed today due to ongoing industrial action. In the 24-hour period up to 8am on on Thursday morning, a total of 261 patients attended the Emergency Department, one of the highest levels ever recorded. “As members of the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (IMNO) commenced 24 hours of industrial action from 8am, UL Hospitals continue to work with the INMO to secure the safest possible level of nursing and midwifery cover in our hospitals during the period of the strike and contingency arrangements are in place,” the group said in a statement today (Thursday). UL Hospitals Group expects that the Emergency Department will be busy throughout the day. Injury Units in Ennis, Nenagh and St John’s hospitals are also closed on account of today’s industrial action. The Injury Units will reopen …

CLARE junior minister, Pat Breen says that he has received confirmation today (Monday) from Minister for Health, Simon Harris, that he will, prioritise the 60-bed modular unit at the University Hospital Limerick. “I have been in communication with both the Taoiseach and the Minister for Health on the issue of the 60-bed modular unit at the University Hospital Limerick and as late as today, Minister Harris confirmed to me that “funding will be provided for this important project to progress,” Deputy Breen said. “There were concerns raised a number of weeks ago that the construction of the proposed unit, which is aimed at alleviating overcrowding, could be postponed due to the overrun of the National Children’s Hospital. Immediately, I contacted the minister for health to ensure he understood the importance of the unit to the Mid West. He assured me he did and that he was committed to the project. He said he intends to fully honour this commitment to …

A 68 year old man died following a farming accident in Cooraclare on Thursday morning. The man,  who was from Cooraclare, has been named locally as Paddy Clohessy. The accident occurred while loading cattle. He died at University Hospital Limerick. A post mortem is to be carried out today and the Health and Safety Authority has launched an investigation. The deceased man was helping out on a farm when the accident occurred. In 2018, 15 people died in Ireland from farm related accidents. The figure in 2017 was 25.

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 Group is appealing to members of the public to consider “all care options” before presenting to the Emergency Department at University Hospital Limerick (UHL) The hospital is currently managing high volumes of patients, including significant volumes of frail elderly patients with chronic conditions and complex care needs. “UL Hospitals apologises for any inconvenience caused to patients or their loved ones who have experienced long wait times in the Emergency Department at UHL, and we would like to reassure patients and their families that we are working to alleviate the situation,” the group said in a statement issued on Monday afternoon. Members of the public are urged to consider all their care options at this time and not to attend the Emergency Department unless necessary. Injury Units in St John’s, Ennis and Nenagh hospitals are open for appropriate injuries. Injury Units are open in Ennis and Nenagh Hospitals from 8am to 8pm, Monday to Sunday and 8am to 6pm …

THE University Maternity Hospital in Limerick is one step closer to providing water births as it plans to introduce a water immersion service for labour by the end of May. Although it will not be offering water births, the new immersion service will be offered for the first time in Limerick as part of a range of labour supports in the home-birthing room to facilitate natural labour. Although UMHL has said water birthing will not take place at the hospital yet, the facilities provided will bring the hospital closer to providing that service in the future. Currently just one hospital in the country offers a water birthing option – the Coombe in Dublin. This is available to pregnant women presenting between 37 and 42 weeks of pregnancy with no medical, surgical or obstetrical risk factors or complications. At present, the pool at the Coombe is reserved for women who consent to participate in the hospital’s research study, ‘Use of water …

Plans have been unveiled for the provision of a video-based remote doctor service in Kilrush, as efforts intensify to halt cutbacks in the out-of-hours Shannondoc service in West and East Clare. It remains to be seen if this will satisfy campaigners seeking a full restoration of GP out-of-hours services throughout the county. Under a new rationalisation plan, which was supported by doctors at a recent annual general meeting, Shannondoc’s Kilrush and Ennistymon services will relocate to Miltown Malbay during weekdays, with the same operating hours applying. Kilrush and Ennistymon will only now open at weekends until 7pm. Shannondoc is to introduce a video-based remote doctor service at its Kilrush centre, allowing it to remain open nightly for two hours. The new service provides for a remote doctor to connect with the Kilrush clinic via a secure, high-definition video link. Patients will contact Shannondoc as they normally would and a triage nurse will first determine if the patient requires a GP …