Nurses say 65 people were waiting for beds at the region’s main hospital today.
The latest figures from the INMO show University Hospital Limerick is by far the most overcrowded in the country today, with 43 patients on trolleys in the ED and a further 22 in overflow areas of wards.
The overall figure is more than twice that of any other hospital and comes on a day when 329 patients are waiting to be admitted at hospitals across the country.
The UL Hospitals Group says that at lunchtime today, there were 36 patients waiting for a bed in the ED of those, one patient was in the Clinical Decision Unit and eight patients who require isolation were being appropriately housed in single rooms in the ED.
An overflow inpatient ward has been opened temporarily and 11 patients are being cared for in this ward.
Statement from the UL Hospitals Group:
The Emergency Department at University Hospital Limerick (UHL) is one of the busiest in the country and the numbers presenting continues to increase year on year.
Attendances exceeded 67,800 in 2017 at the ED in UHL, a growth of over 5% on the previous year. This increase in attendances has continued into 2018 and of those presenting, the numbers requiring admission include many frail elderly patients with complex care needs.
During the last week of those patients attending the ED, a high proportion required admittance to a bed. In addition an unusually high number of patients requiring surgery have presented to the ED in the last 24 hours, these patients require a surgical admission or intervention before they can be discharged. This has added additional pressure for beds across all our sites.
We regret that any of our patients have to face long waits in our ED during busy periods and any distress or inconvenience this causes to patients and their loved ones.
At 12:30pm today (Fri 24th Aug) there were 36 patients waiting for a bed in the ED of those, one patient was in the Clinical Decision Unit and eight patients who require isolation were being appropriately housed in single rooms in the ED. An overflow inpatient ward has been opened temporarily and 11 patients are being cared for in this ward.
Overcrowding is a whole-hospital issue and not an issue strictly for the ED. A multi-faceted approach is required to tackle overcrowding, encompassing additional bed capacity, improved patient flow, the development of integrated care programmes with community services – all of which are being addressed by the Group.
Other measures being taken to relieve pressure on the ED and as part of our escalation policy includes the transfer of suitable patients from UHL to Ennis Hospital, Nenagh Hospital, St John’s Hospital and Croom Orthopaedic Hospital; the transfer of appropriate patients to community care settings and maximising access to Homecare packages and Transition care; working closely with Community Intervention Teams to provide antibiotics and other basic care in a patient’s home or care facility and communication with GPs to ensure patients are referred to ED only where appropriate. In addition, elective procedures are reviewed daily as we prioritise inpatient beds for those patients waiting in the ED. All patients affected are contacted and their appointments rescheduled as quickly as possible.
The new ED at UHL has designated spaces for 49 patients and admitted patients waiting for a bed are often in single rooms or designated bays, including isolation rooms for appropriate infection prevention and control. While patients still face delays in the new ED, it provides for a much improved patient experience compared to the old department and has improved the privacy, safety and dignity for many of our patients. Additional nursing resources have been provided to ensure patients receive the appropriate care while in the ED.
UHL has 400 inpatient beds and this is recognised as not being sufficient for the needs of the Mid West Region. The Group welcomes the commitment to increasing bed capacity at UHL in the Project Ireland 2040 plan.
In the medium term, a new bed block is being considered as an interim solution to the bed capacity issue. This would provide 60 additional beds in the medium term, is contingent on funding and would take 12 months to complete. UL Hospitals understands that the proposal for system build additional acute beds at UHL is currently under active consideration by the Department of Health and the HSE. It is anticipated that a capacity plan will be approved by the Minister in the near future and that the plan for additional acute bed capacity at UHL will be included in that overall plan.
