The HSE has acknowledged there is what it describes as a “priority requirement” for the UL Hospitals Group to maintain an “affordable staffing level.”
After the INMO reported a record-equalling 81 patients on trolleys at Dooradoyle yesterday, the nurses group called for the lifting of a recruitment embargo which they say is contributing to the overcrowding.
In a statement to Clare FM, on foot of a request to Health Minister Simon Harris, a spokesperson for the Minister says the HSE has advised that no such embargo is in place, and that 68 staff have been recruited in the past five weeks.
The Minister’s spokesperson admits trolley numbers are “unacceptably high” and states that the HSE is working with the UL Hospitals Group to ease congestion.
A spokesperson for the Minister:
It is acknowledged that trolley numbers in University Hospital Limerick (UHL) are unacceptably high and the HSE is actively working with the University of Limerick Hospital Group to ease congestion in UHL with a focus on facilitating transfers to Level 2 hospitals, assistance from rehabilitation units and primary care services, and prioritisation of diagnostics to aid inpatient discharges.
As well as the new Emergency Department at the hospital, an additional 25 beds have opened since 2017, including 8 as part of the Winter Plan 2018/2019.
A capital budget of €19.5 million has been approved for the provision of a modular 60-bed inpatient ward block at UHL, with funding of €10 million allocated in 2019. The new modular block will include three wards comprising of 20 single-room occupancy with ensuite facilities, two of which will be full isolation facilities and will provide care and treatment for patients from admission to discharge. The HSE have advised that the enabling works are complete and the main contractor is commencing work.
The HSE have advised that while there is no recruitment embargo or moratorium in place, there is a priority requirement for them to maintain or achieve an affordable staffing level that is sustainable in 2019 and 2020, while also prioritising the delivery of safe services. UL Hospitals Group report that they have recruited 68 staff in the last five weeks, 48 of whom are graduate nurses and midwives.
