Tag Archives: UHL

MORE than 180 Clare patients were waiting for cataract, hip, knee and small volume procedures last May, new figures have revealed, writes Dan Danaher. The HSE has confirmed there were 99 Clare patients waiting for a cataract operation, 33 for hip, 35 for knee and nine for small volume procedures on May 31. These figures were provided in response to a Dáil question tabled by Deputy Michael McNamara. The HSE recognised that waiting times for scheduled appointments and procedures have been impacted in the last 16 months as a direct result of the Covid-19 pandemic and more recently as a result of the ransomware attack. While significant progress was made in reducing waiting times from June 2020 onwards, the surge in Covid-19 cases in the first quarter of 2021, and the resultant curtailment of acute hospital services, is reflected in the most recently available waiting list figures to May 2021. On March 23 2021 the HSE published the “Safe Return …

PUBLIC patients in Clare look set to face even longer waiting times following another series of elective cancellations, which has prompted stinging criticism from Deputy Violet Anne-Wynne, writes Dan Danaher. The number of patients on public in-patient waiting lists in the Mid-West has increased from 4,798 in January 2020 to 6,569 in May 2021. There has also been a worrying rise in the number of outpatients waiting to be treated, which is up from 47,134 in January 2020 to 50,363 in May 2021. In a hard-hitting statement issued to The Clare Champion, Deputy Wynne, claimed University Hospital Limerick (UHL)has been the most overcrowded hospital in Ireland every day this year. “It has had the highest overall number of patients waiting for care without beds in each consecutive year since 2017. Despite additional recruitment and over 100 extra beds, it still faces runaway overcrowding. “University Hospital Limerick has been accommodating the highest number of people on trolleys for many months in …

THE UL Hospitals Group has appealed to members of the public to consider all alternative care options rather than visit the extremely busy emergency department at UHL. People with less urgent complaints are advised to expect long delays at the ED today, and should first consider Injury Units, GPs, out-of-hours GP services and pharmacists before attending ED, which continues to experience record presentations. In the 24 hours to 8am on Sunday, 249 people presented at ED. Over the past five days, the average attendance has been 252, with a mid-week high on Wednesday of 274. This is far in excess of the 195 average daily presentation figure in the last full year pre-pandemic (2019). The exceptionally high level of emergency presentations and admissions UHL reflects the experience at hospitals across the country. As part of its escalation plan, additional ward rounds, accelerated discharges and identification of patients for transfer to Model 2 hospitals are all underway. A spokesperson for the …

UL Hospitals Group has today announced the gradual relaxation of a number of Covid-19 restrictions on access to University Maternity Hospital Limerick (UMHL), as local transmission of Covid-19 decreases and the vaccination programme rolls out across the Mid-West. The option of having a nominated partner present for anomaly scans has been reintroduced at the hospital this week, and from next Monday, April 26, fathers/parents of babies in the neonatal unit will be permitted to visit, 4.30pm to 6.30pm, subject to activity in the unit. Weekly risk assessment is ongoing at the hospital with a view to giving a nominated partner 45-minute visiting slots on the hospital’s postnatal wards, M1 and M2, from May 10, 2021 between the hours of 6pm and 8pm daily. Eileen Ronan, UL Hospitals Group’s Director of Midwifery, welcomed the hospital’s first steps in the careful, phased relaxation of the visiting restrictions that have been in force at UMHL for almost the entirety of the pandemic. “No-one …

UNIVERSITY Hospital Limerick-based colorectal and general surgeon, Colin Peirce, has been bestowed with one of the most prestigious honours a surgeon in Ireland can receive, when he was chosen to deliver the 43rd annual Millin Lecture for 2020. A significant event in the Royal College of Surgeons of Ireland calendar, the Millin Lecture is traditionally delivered during the college’s annual Millin Meeting each November, before an audience of hundreds of surgeons from all across Ireland. This year, in line with public health guidance on social and physical distancing, Mr Peirce had to pre-record the 43rd Millin Lecture, for online transmission during the college’s virtually hosted 2020 Millin Meeting, as part of the 2021 Charter Day Meetings. Distancing has not diminished the honour Mr Peirce feels for the recognition by his peers of his contributions to practice nationally and internationally, and for what the honour means for UL Hospitals’ Group. Best known for his work on pioneering robotic colorectal surgery at …

By Gordon Deegan A mother of two who was subjected to an alleged serious assault in Ennis last month lost her fight for life in hospital on Wednesday. Wexford native, Sharon Bennett (29) died at University Hospital Limerick in the early hours of Wednesday morning 13 days after she was admitted to the hospital. Ms Bennett was brought to hospital suffering serious head injuries after being allegedly assaulted by her boyfriend, Patrick Ballard (34) in Ennis’ Market area on the evening of Thursday, January 28, last. Reacting to the confirmation of Ms Bennett’s death on Wednesday, the Mayor of Clare, Councillor Mary Howard (FG) said, “It is absolutely heartbreaking to hear that two children will be left without their mother.” The Ennis based councillor stated, “It is so sad that they grow up and their Mammy isn’t there.” Ms Bennett had her two children from a previous relationship and Cllr Howard said, “My thoughts and prayers are with her family …

A young woman is in a critical condition in hospital following a serious assault in Ennis on Thursday evening. The incident happened shortly after 6pm in the Market area of Ennis town centre. Passers-by are believed to have raised the alarm when they witnessed an incident in the vicinity of the public toilet at Garraunakilla close to the Ennis Market. Gardaí and ambulance paramedics responded to the call and on arrival established that there was a person inside a public toilet. Unable to gain access to the toilet, the fire service was requested to assist. Two units of Ennis Fire Service attended the scene and gained entry to the toilet. Ambulance paramedics and an advanced paramedic, specially trained in advance life support skills, assessed and treated the woman at the scene. She was rushed to University Hospital Limerick in a critical condition with fire service personnel travelling in the ambulance to assist paramedics as they continued to resuscitate the woman. …

THERE has been an increase of 70% in the use of physical force to manage patients at Ennis’s Acute Psychiatric Unit, new figures show. The rise comes at a time when mental health experts say such measures should only be used in “exceptional” circumstances. A report from the Mental Health Commission shows there were 85 incidents, in 2019, when residents of the unit were physically restrained after they were judged to pose an immediate danger to themselves or to others. While there was a decrease nationally in the number of episodes of physical restraint in the country’s 65 approved inpatient psychiatric treatment centres, the facility in Ennis bucked that trend. There were 50 incidents of physical restraint at the unit in 2018 and 85 episodes involving 41 residents in 2019. In response to a query from The Champion, the Health Service Executive (HSE) Midwest, said it welcomed the report’s findings and is currently reviewing them. “While restrictive measures are sometimes …