Minister Donnelly announces new measures to alleviate overcrowding at University Hospital Limerick
From Department of Health
Published on
Last updated on
From Department of Health
Published on
Last updated on
Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly today visited University Hospital Limerick (UHL) where he met with management, including Regional Executive Officer Sandra Broderick, the Health Service Executive (HSE) CEO Bernard Gloster, as well as consultants and other clinical leaders.
Nationally, so far this year we have seen a 11.5% (37k) increase in the number of people presenting at Emergency Departments (EDs) versus the same period in 2023. For those aged 75+ patient group the increase is 16% (7,000).
In spite of this, additional capacity coupled with on-going reforms mean that the number of patients on trollies has fallen by 10.4% (3.3k).
UHL has consistently the highest number of people waiting on trollies for admittance to a hospital bed in the country.
In 2024 to date, 17% of those who waited on trollies did so at UHL, a hospital which has 6% of Emergency Department attendances, and 6% of attendances of those over 75 years.
In UHL, in 2024 we have seen a 14% (2.4k) increase in the number of people presenting at ED versus the same period in 2023.
The number of patients on trolleys has increased by 49% (1.6k).
Of the five hospitals with the highest numbers of patients on trolleys, UHL is the only one showing an increase in trolley numbers for 2024.
Minister Donnelly said:
"This continued problem is not acceptable to me as Minister, and it most certainly is not acceptable to the people of this region.
"In an effort to alleviate the problem I have agreed with the HSE a number of measures which will, I hope, help:
"These new measures come on top of a 41% increase in staff at UHL since 2019, and an addition of 108 beds since 2020. The budget allocation for this Hospital has increased by 44% since 2019 to €383 million in 2023."
Minister Donnelly also met with representative groups of nursing and NCHD staff. The Minister impressed on everyone he met, that those hospitals that perform best in terms of trollies are those which have changed the way they work to better suit the needs of the populations they serve.
The Minister said:
"Those hospitals that are improving their performance, are doing so through a combination of increased resources – we have more beds and more staff right across our health service albeit not to the same extent as here in Limerick – and reformed work practices.
"Therefore, I have asked and expect that we will see here in UHL the following:
"These measures have proved to be successful when deployed in Waterford, Mullingar, Beaumont and elsewhere and I expect that they will be successful when they are rolled out here in Limerick.
"Reform and change are difficult, they challenge us all, but reform and change are required here in UHL if we are to provide the service the people of this region expect and deserve."