UHL Reports Highest Overcrowding Levels Last Month

UHL Corridor

There’s been a significant jump in trolley numbers at University Hospital Limerick since the opening of its new Emergency Department.

June was the first full month of operations for the new ED at Dooradoyle – during this time, nurses say the numbers waiting for beds was up a quarter.

Clare FM’s Fiona McGarry reports:

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University Hospital Limerick reported the highest level of trolley numbers of any hospital in Ireland last month.

640 people were left waiting on beds in June, up from 512 in the same month last year – a 25% increase.

It’s the second highest figure ever recorded in June at the region’s main A&E.

When the new Emergency Department opened last month, management admitted that it alone would not solve overcrowding, and that additional bed capacity is also needed.

The process to secure funding for a new 96-bed unit at the hospital is ongoing.

Limerick has also seen the highest levels of overcrowding throughout the first half of the year, though in the six months the numbers waiting on trolleys in Ennis almost halved from 238 to 120.

The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation, who have publised the figures, say they represent further evidence that our health service, through inadequate bed and staffing levels, can’t cope with demand.