The Midwest Hospital Campaign group insists an apology from the CEO of the UL Hospitals Group must be backed up by action.
Senior management have appeared before the Oireachtas Health Committee this week, in the wake of a damning HIQA report published last June.
Senior Management within the UL Hospitals Group this week appeared before the Oireachtas Health Committee, where members questioned them on the contents of last June’s damning HIQA report.
The report suggested University Hospital Limerick was failing to provide ‘dignity’ or ‘privacy’ to its patients at the time it was inspected and that the Dooradoyle facility is understaffed, with patients waiting more than 70 hours in the ED.
CEO of the UL Hospitals Group Colette Cowan apologised for the report’s findings, though said she believes UHL still has a shortfall of approximately 87 beds.
She said a second 96-bed block unit is needed to get to sufficient bed capacity in UHL, on top of the facility due to begin construction next month, which is due to be ready in two years time.
Clare’s Fine Gael Senator says a proposal for the second unit needs to be submitted ‘without delay’.
Ennistymon-based Senator Martin Conway, who’s a member of the Health Committee, doesn’t believe the Government will be found wanting when it comes to capital funding.
The Midwest Hospital Campaign has hit out over yesterday’s meeting saying there was a missed opportunity to hold hospital management accountable.
The HIQA report found the UL Hospitals Group is the only hospital structure in the country where the model 4 facility is not supported by a model 3.
A petition from the Midwest Hospital Campaign containing 15,000 signatures, which is calling for Ennis Hospital to revert to a Model 3 facility has been heard by the Dáil Petitions Committee and is progressing to the next stage.
But at yesterday’s hearing Chief Clinical Director Brian Lenehan said he doesn’t believe Ennis, Nenagh or St John’s are in a position to be upgraded.
Spokesperson, Marie McMahon from Ennistymon, who’s husband died on a trolley at UHL, believes there’s was far too much of a focus on a new elective hospital and she feels the idea of a Model 3 hospital is being ignored.
Listen back to the full interview here:
