Tag Archives: University Hospital

Chronic overcrowding in University Hospital Limerick (UHL) is back in the spotlight after a 101 year-old Clare woman was forced to spend 25 hours on a trolley last weekend. Councillor Ann Norton has condemned the length of time it took the elderly woman to get a bed in the region’s flaghship acute hospital as a “disgrace”. This is the second time in a matter of days that a centenarian has been forced to spend over a day on a hospital trolley. Tallaght Hospital apologised last week for leaving a 101-year-old patient over 26 hours on a trolley and said it would put in place measure to minimise the risk of it happening again. Councillor Norton said the situation in the Emergency Department at UHL was like a “war zone” in comparison to the positive experience the lady had in Ennis Hospital. “No patient should spend over a day on a hospital trolley, particularly someone who is very elderly. “The situation in casualty in …

Clare acute patients breathed a collective sigh of relief on Tuesday morning after a last-ditch deal averted nurses’ strike action in Ennis Hospital and other local hospitals. Over 1,000 nurses in the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) and SIPTU had voted to commence a work-to-rule in University Hospital Limerick, Ennis Hospital, Nenagh Hospital and Croom Orthopaedic Hospital at 8 am on Tuesday. However, this action was deferred late on Monday night after a new deal brokered between the unions and management at the Labour Relations Commission (LRC) secured the recruitment of an extra 70 nurses for the UL Hospital Group. The planned work-to-rule would have seen nurses withdraw from all non-emergency clerical and administrative duties. SIPTU health organiser, Tony Kenny said nurses had based their decision on the extreme level of overcrowding in UHL, the lack of agreed nursing levels and failure by management to agree a fair, equitable and workable solution to ease this problem. He said the …

Two of the largest nursing unions have requested a public inquiry into the reasons behind the gross overcrowding in local emergency departments, particularly at the University Hospital Limerick (UHL). The INMO and SIPTU confirmed that their ballot for industrial action will start on Monday, January 5 in protest to the HSE’s response to chronic and persistent overcrowding at University Hospital, Limerick. Nurses are also up in arms over HSE plans to place additional patients in excess of agreed bed capacity at Ennis and Nenagh hospitals and the transfer of medical patients to Croom Hospital without agreement with the unions. In a statement issued to the Clare Champion, the unions claimed there was a critical shortage of qualified nurses throughout the region with a conservative figure of 70 to 100 additional nurses required immediately on permanent contracts. The unions warned the current escalation plan will present health and safety risks to staff as well as clinical risks to patients. According to …