The Midwest Hospital Campaign Group has described the failure to vastly improve standards around the dignity and privacy of patients at the region’s main hospital as a major concern.
It comes following the publication of a new report by HIQA, which found University Hospital Limerick partially compliant in three of the four areas assessed and non-compliant in one, with overcrowding flagged as an ongoing area of concern.
HIQA carried out an unannounced inspection across two days in February last, when there were 72 patients on trolleys.
In the subsequent report, it was noted that the overcrowding “continued to impact on the privacy and dignity of patients, despite the best efforts of staff”.
While the inspection showed signs of improvement such as in the area of management structure, the report has led to renewed calls for UHL’s capacity problem to be tackled once and for all.
The Midwest Hospitals Campaign Group says improvements surrounding workforce at the Dooradoyle facility are to be welcomed, but that non-compliance in the area of digity and privacy is a major concern.
Ballyvaughan-based spokesperson, Noeleen Moran believes the emergency department remains completely overburdened.
As a means of addressing the overcrowding crisis, the region’s main hospital plans to construct two 96-bed blocks, the first of which is expected to open in late 2024 or early 2025, and the second in 2027 while a third block is also in the works.
Oireachtas Health Committee member Senator Martin Conway believes the construction of the new blocks will serve to address the hospital’s capacity problem in a “meaningful way”.
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