The number of patients who attended the Emergency Department at University Hospital Limerick last year jumped by over 4,000.
The hospital has also reported a busy festive period, and that’s continued into the New Year.
Clare FM’s Gavin Grace reports.
CEO of the UL Hospitals Group Colette Cowan says there were over 72,000 visits to the Emergency Department at University Hospital Limerick last year.
That’s up by over 4,200 on the year before, and this 6% increase is on top of what was already a record high figure, coming in the wake of the opening of the improved ED at Dooradoyle.
Ms. Cowan has also stated on Twitter that nearly 200 people were seen each day between Christmas Eve and New Years Day, and she praised her ‘exceptional’ staff while also admitting that this demand outweighs capacity.
There will be no let-up of this pressure in the New Year, and that’s borne out by today’s Trolleywatch figures from the INMO.
They show 56 patients were waiting for beds at the region’s main hospital this morning, 34 of those on trolleys in the emergency department.
The overall figure is two dozen more than any other facility in the country.
