It’s claimed inadequate staffing levels are at the core of overcrowding problems and increased waiting lists at the region’s main hospital.
New figures show a 52% rise in the number of patients waiting 18 months or more for appointments at University Hospital Limerick.
While, the Dooradoyle facility remains the most overcrowded in the country once again today.
The latest figures from the National Treatment Purchase Fund show that at the end of November, nearly 34,000 patients were awaiting inpatient and outpatient appointments at University Hospital Limerick.
Of those, 6,205 were waiting a year and a half for an appointment, a rise of 52% on the same period the previous year.
A former Chair of the HSE’s Regional Health Forum West has hit out over the figures, saying inadequate staffing levels are compounding issues there.
And Kilmaley Fianna Fáil Councillor, Tom McNamara insists that calls for increased incentives for staff have gone unheeded.
University Hospital Limerick consistently suffers from the highest levels of overcrowding in the country, and that remains the case once again today.
44 patients were left waiting on trolleys in the emergency department and in overflow areas of wards there this morning, 15 more than the next busiest facility.
The HSE recently announced it’s winter plan to deal with the issue, which includes proposals for A 19-bay medical assessment unit and a 17-bed surgical short-stay unit.
But while Clare’s Independent TD has welcomed these proposals, he’s criticised the fact that it is needed in the first place, saying it’s designed to blunt the surge in admissions, rather than dealing with the overall problem of overcrowding.
And, Dr Michael Harty says it’s impacting waiting lists in its own way too.
