Major Protests Planned For Midwest Hospitals As Overcrowding Crisis Deepens

Photo (c) ClareFM

The Midwest Hospital Campaign Group is to mount major protests outside hospitals across the region over the persisting overcrowding crisis in the local health system.

It follows a record-breaking 92 patients being left on trolleys at University Hospital Limerick yesterday, the highest figure on a single day in any facility in the country’s history.

The Health Minister has admitted that the problem will take time to fix and has announced that almost 200 new beds in hospitals and community settings by the end of the month.

CONTINUE READING BELOW

However, Ballyvaughan Sinn Féin representative Noeleen Moran, who is a member of the Midwest Hospital Campaign, says it’s nothing short of a disgrace:

Statement from the UL Hospitals Group in relation to measures to alleviate overcrowding

The target timeframe for the opening of 60-bed block at University Hospital Limerick remains Q4 2020. This is the timeframe set out in the HSE National Service Plan 2020 and there has been no change in this regard. 
This is an important project for the people of the MidWest and will go some way towards addressing the acknowledged lack of bed capacity in the region. The 60-bed ward block comprises four stories, with three wards of 20 en-suite single rooms over a basement level. The project will also help UL Hospitals Group in addressing its relative lack of isolation facilities. A second 96-bed block for UHL is included in Project Ireland 2040 however this project is some years away from delivery.