It’s claimed people attending the Emergency Department at University Hospital Limerick are more worried about where they’re being treated than simply getting better.
It comes as the latest figures from the INMO reveal that overcrowding at the the region’s main hospital rose by some 29% in 2018.
Clare FM’s James Mulhall reports:
Over the past 12 months, 11,437 people were left waiting on trolleys at University Hospital Limerick.
That’s an annual increase of almost 29% and means UHL accounts for a tenth of the total number of people on trolleys in Irish hospitals last year.
Its figure is also, unsurprisingly, the highest of any hospital in Ireland, and that’s the case once more at the beginning of 2019.
Today alone, 48 people are without a bed in Limerick and Clare member of the HSE’s Regional Health Forum West Tom McNamara is seriously concerned.
Ennis General, meanwhile, saw a 22% rise in trolley numbers to 214 last year though that figure is one of the lowest levels nationally.
The INMO has dubbed 2018 a record year for overcrowding and are now calling on the government to work with them to avoid a strike.
A ballot of the union’s members late last year saw them vote by 95% in favour of industrial action as the sector continues to battle bed capacity and staffing issues.
General Secretary of the union Phil Ní Sheaghda says if action is taken on the trolley crisis, there’s no need to strike.
