Tag Archives: UHL

UL HOSPITALS Group has notified the public that there will be significant delays at UHL’s emergency department (ED) today. The group has advised people to consider all alternative care options before attending ED as it is busy managing high attendances of very sick people with a variety of complex illnesses, including Covid-19. People with less urgent complaints are advised to expect long delays at the ED today, and have been asked to first consider attending one of the local injury units, (such as that at Ennis), GPs, out-of-hours GP services and pharmacists before attending ED, which continues to experience high presentations. A spokesperson said, “We are working to ensure that care is prioritised for the sickest patients, and as part of our escalation plan, additional ward rounds, accelerated discharges and identification of patients for transfer to our Model 2 hospitals are all underway. We have also opened surge capacity to manage the extremely high levels of activity. “We are reminding …

HEALTH Minister Stephen Donnelly has refuted claims that a “clean up operation” was carried out in University Hospital Limerick (UHL) to present a better picture for him before his hospital visit last week, writes Dan Danaher. Speaking in the Dáil on Thursday, February 17, Sinn Féin Senator Paul Garvan highlighted a “shocking” issue at UHL concerning the minister’s visit to the hospital. “I had people reach out to me from the hospital yesterday to tell me what was happening ahead of his visit. Trolleys have been moved out to other wards in the hospital, as well as to step-down hospitals. “One person told me that there were more private ambulances there yesterday than they had seen in a long time. They were to get patients out, ahead of the visit. “Unfortunately for hospital management, and in fairness to the Minister, Deputy Stephen Donnelly, he called in unexpectedly yesterday (Wednesday) evening. “The response to that was to hide patients in the …

CHRONIC overcrowding in University Hospital Limerick (UHL) is back under the national spotlight following confirmation HIQA is considering inspecting the Emergency Department as part of its recent monitoring of this issue. The INMO’s Trolley Watch reported there were 87 patients on trolleys in UHL last week, which fell to 71 on Tuesday before increasing again to 75 on Wednesday. Calls are being made for the Emergency Department Taskforce to be convened and for emergency measures to be deployed in the areas worst hit. UHL regularly has the dubious distinction of being the most overcrowded hospital in the country. Deputy Michael McNamara has called on the HSE and government to publish the findings of a review by the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) into the ongoing trolley crisis at University Hospital Limerick (UHL). The Independent Deputy issued his request in Dáil Éireann on Wednesday after Junior Health Minister Mary Butler confirmed to him that the health agency has written to …

OVERCROWDING surged again in University Hospital Limerick this week close to record levels following recent calls for an independent inquiry into why this continues to be a problem at the region’s flagship acute hospital. The number of patients on trolleys increased from 63 on Tuesday to 89 on Wednesday after 78 patients were waiting for a bed on Monday, according to the INMO’s Trolley Watch. An Taoiseach Micheál Martin has pledged to ask Health Minister Stephen Donnelly to set up an independent inquiry into chronic overcrowding in University Hospital Limerick (UHL) after two record-breaking days of trolley numbers last week. Surging admissions, which resulted in 97 patients languishing on trolleys in UHL on Tuesday, January 25 and 111 on Wednesday, January 26 have prompted calls for an independent inquiry into overcrowding. Deputy Michael McNamara asked the Taoiseach to commission an official independent inquiry to establish “what is the problem with healthcare in the UHL Hospitals’ Group”. The Taoiseach said there …

THERE has been a 20% hike in the number of confirmed cases of Covid-19 being treated in University Hospital Limerick (UHL), which is now the highest in the country, writes Dan Danaher. As of January 19, there were 84 confirmed cases of the virus being treated in UHL, which was the highest in the country. This compared to 74 in Galway University Hospital, 56 in the Mater, 50 in St Vincent’s Hospital and 46 in Connolly. A week earlier there had been 70 confirmed cases of Covid-19 being treated in UHL, which was the second highest in the country after Galway University Hospital on 78. Nine of the confirmed cases in UHL were being treated in ICU and there was no spare intensive care bed on this day. UHL was also treating 27 suspected cases of the virus last week. UHL is also treating 20 suspected cases of the virus, which is the second highest in the country. St James …

VISITING restrictions are in place at University Hospital Limerick in an effort to manage an outbreak of Covid-19. Three wards are currently affected but UL Hospitals Group, as a precautionary measure, is restricting visiting on all inpatient wards at UHL. Restrictions on visits to the Emergency Department, Acute Surgical Assessment Unit, and Acute Medical Assessment Unit at UHL also remain in force. The only exceptions to the visiting ban are: parents visiting children in hospital; people assisting confused patients, e.g. dementia, (on a case-by-case basis); people visiting patients who are critically unwell or at end of life (on a case-by-case basis). All these exemptions are limited to one person per patient only. A spokesperson for the group said, “We regret any inconvenience this visiting ban causes for patients and their loved ones. Our outbreak control team has convened and hospital management has decided it is now necessary to impose these measures in the interests of patient safety and keeping essential …

ACUTE hospitals in the Mid-West are on the alert for a possible significant surge in Covid-19 cases during the Christmas period due to the increased transmission of the new Omicron variant, writes Dan Danaher. There were 109 new cases of Covid-19 in Clare on Sunday, December 19, 197 in Limerick and 51 in North Tipperary. This compared to 65 new cases in Clare on December 13, 149 in Limerick and 56 in Tipperary. Meanwhile, the 14-day incidence of Covid-19 in Clare has increased slightly from 1,120 per 100,000 on December 13 to 1,133 on December 19. It also went up marginally in Limerick from 913 to 1,024 but fell in Tipperary from 1,441 to 1,322 during the same period. There were 1,331 cases in Clare from November 30 to December 13, 1,780 in Limerick and 2,300 in Tipperary during the same period. The latest 14-day incidence rate from December 6 to December 19 reveal 1,347 new cases in Clare, 1,996 …

FEARS have been expressed about the impact of the “never-ending” overcrowding problem in University Hospital Limerick (UHL) after 83 patients were left waiting for beds on Tuesday. HSE West Forum member, Cillian Murphy has called for an examination of ways to reduce the number of patients being admitted to the ED in UHL, and to speed up the discharge of treated patients in a safe manner. “From conversations with ambulance crews it seems the ED is the default response for emergencies,” the FF member noted. “This may only have a marginal impact on trolleys but we have to look at other ways to treat people such as care in the community. “At some point someone is going to have to say this isn’t good enough any more. Despite all the extra resources that are being fired into the health system, we still doesn’t seem to be able to cope with what is landing on the doorstep in UHL,” said Councillor …