A 90-year-old North Clare man who was one of 95 people on a trolley at the region’s main hospital last week claims staff there are ‘overworked’.
Lahinch native Tomsie O’ Sullivan was among those who was waiting for a bed at University Hospital Limerick last Tuesday when record overcrowding numbers were documented.
That number has steadily dropped in the seven days since, with 58 people on trolleys in Dooradoyle as of this morning according to the INMO.
The UL Hospitals Group says UHL remains under ‘severe pressure’ and is apologising to anyone experiencing long waiting times.
Tomsie, who was suffering from breathing difficulties and is now recovering at home, says demand for care at the facility is extremely high.
UL Hospitals Group statement:
We apologise to all patients who are facing long wait times for a bed at University Hospital Limerick. The hospital remains under severe pressure as a result of sustained, record-breaking activity levels at our Emergency Department and a surge in Covid-19 activity over the last number of weeks.
At 8am this morning, there were 61 admitted patients on trolleys in the Emergency Department, Medical Assessment Unit(MAU), Surgical Assessment Unit and, in line with our escalation plan, on our general wards. A further 31 admitted patients were in single rooms, beds/designated bed spaces in ED and MAU before transfer to a bed in a designated inpatient area. In line with our escalation plan, we have also opened surge capacity to manage extremely high activity levels.
Average daily presentations to ED since Monday, November 8th have been 241. On two days over the past week, presentations have exceeded 270. This compares to 195 presentations per day during 2019.
As of, November 15th, there were 45 COVID-positive inpatients being treated in the hospital, of whom 13 were receiving critical care.
We also continue to manage a COVID outbreak in the hospital that continues to affect four inpatient wards.
We continue to follow our Escalation Plan, which includes use of surge capacity, undertaking additional ward rounds, accelerating discharges and identifying patients for transfer to our Model 2 hospitals. However, many patients currently admitted to UHL are sicker and with more complicated conditions, and require longer inpatient stays to recover.
We reiterate our advice to members of the public to consider all available care options before presenting to the ED. Injury units in Ennis and Nenagh are open from 8am to 8pm, and in St John’s from 8am to 7pm, seven days a week. Injury Units are for the treatment of broken bones, dislocations, sprains strains, wounds, scalds and minor burns. More information on our Injury Units is available here. Anyone with less serious illness or conditions should contact their GPs or out-of-hours GP services. However, if you are seriously injured or ill or are worried your life is at risk the ED will assess and treat you as a priority.
We apologise to any patient who has experienced a long wait for admission to UHL during this period of exceptionally high demand for our services.
