The Sinn Féin leader has stopped short of committing to the re-opening of A&E’s in Ennis, Nenagh and St John’s, as part of efforts to resolve the overcrowding crisis at the region’s main hospital.
It comes as elective surgeries have resumed at UL Hospital Groups facilities today, following two days of cancellations.
Mary Lou Mc Donald has been critical of the Government response to the ongoing overcrowding crisis at UHL, as Clare FM’s Sean Lyons reports:
Medical staff within the UL Hospitals Group are beginning to clear a backlog of planned surgeries today, after elective procedures were cancelled for the last two days.
It was in response to an extremely high number of patients attending the Emergency Department at University Hospital Limerick earlier in the week, with trolley numbers at the Dooradoyle facility peaking at 143 on Monday.
Today, an analysis from the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation shows there were 100 admitted patients waiting for beds at the Dooradoyle facility during morning rounds.
The Government has this week defended it’s response to overcrowding at UHL, highlighting that since 2020, 150 extra beds have been provided there, with a 96-bed clock due to open by spring next year and another 96-bed block to follow in 2027.
Speaking in the Dáil yesterday, Minister Simon Coveney outlined that over a 4-year period, the hospital budget has increased by 45% to 383 million euro and committed to adding more beds and staff in the future, as well as improving management of the facility.
His party colleague, Clare Fine Gael Senator Martin Conway, who is also a member of the Oireachtas Health Committee, says the only solution to the crisis is increasing capacity.
The Sinn Féin leader says her party’s first focus is to deliver an additional 230 beds, cited as needed in the hospital group’s own capacity review.
Speaking on Clare FM’s Morning Focus, Mary Lou McDonald criticised the Government for failing to deliver the much needed capacity and for underfunding health in the last budget and said the Taoiseach, Tanaiste and Health Minister must lead from the from the front.
Asked if she’d re-open the three A&E’s in Ennis, Nenagh and St John’s, as called for by a number of campaign groups in the region, Mary Lou McDonald said that decision would have be made based on a clinical review.
The first focus, she said, is delivering capacity.
You can listen to the full interview here:
