UL Hospitals Group “Working Tirelessly” To Reduce Overcrowding As Trolley Numbers Surge To 111

Hospital trolleys

Direct intervention is being sought from the Health Minister and the HSE as trolley numbers at the region’s main hospital continue to spiral.

The latest INMO figures show there were 111 patients on trolleys at University Hospital Limerick this morning.

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University Hospital Limerick has made history this week, but for all the wrong reasons.

The highest ever level of overcrowding of any hospital in the country was recorded there yesterday.

Today, however, that number has been surpassed, with INMO figures showing 111 patients were waiting for beds there this morning.

The UL Hospitals Group has apologised to patients experiencing long waits, with its Chief Clinical Director saying it’s not the level of care they want to deliver to patients.

Professor Brian Lenehan says significant attendances over recent days are being compounded by the fact that 99 of the hospital’s beds have Covid patients.

The INMO this week called for HIQA to investigate the situation in University Hospital Limerick and today the nurses’ union says it’s time for direct intervention from the HSE and the Minister for Health in tandem with that.

Professor Lenehan believes however that any review carried out would bring about similar results to previous probes, as they know the problem lies with demand and capacity.

He insists that hospital management are working tirelessly to reduce trolley numbers at the Dooradoyle facility but he expects high trolley numbers to be sustained throughout this week.

A member of the Midwest Hospital campaign believes the current situation isn’t just stemming from what’s happening in the hospital.

Marie McMahon, who’s husband died on a trolley in 2008, believes health services in the region are a “total failure” and that out of hours services are “a shambles”.

The Ennistymon woman says there’s a lack of joined up thinking across the region and that it’s not just about trolleys.

The Irish Patient’s Association says questions need to be answered on how hospitals in Dublin recorded very low trolley numbers over the winter period when they’re serving more than quarter of a million patients, while at the same time numbers are continuing to spiral here.

Spokesperson Stephen McMahon, who has family links to Feakle, says lives are being put at risk.

UL Hospitals Group statement:

The Emergency Department (ED) at University Hospital Limerick is busy today managing high attendances of very sick people with a variety of complex illnesses, including COVID-19, and the public is being advised to consider all alternative care options before attending ED.

People with less urgent complaints are advised to expect long delays at the ED today, and to first consider our Injury Units, GPs, out-of-hours GP services and pharmacists before attending ED, which continues to experience high presentations.

We are working to ensure that care is prioritised for the sickest patients, and as part of our escalation plan, additional ward rounds, accelerated discharges and identification of patients for transfer to our Model 2 hospitals are all underway. We have also opened surge capacity to manage the extremely high levels of activity.

In the 24 hours to 8am this morning, 251 people presented at ED. Since the start of the year, the average daily ED attendances at UHL has been 226. On all weekdays this month, attendances at the department have exceeded 200, with the highest attendances, 265, recorded this Monday and on January 18th. This is far in excess of the 195 average daily presentation figure in the last full year pre-pandemic (2019), and continues a trend experienced in the Mid-West over a number of months.

At 8am this morning there were 73 admitted patients waiting on trolleys for an inpatient bed. These patients were in the Emergency Department, our medical and surgical assessment units and, in line with our escalation plan, on the general wards. All other admitted patients waiting for a bed were appropriately accommodated in designated clinical spaces, including single rooms and single cubicles. In line with our escalation plan, we have also opened surge capacity to manage extremely high activity levels.

In UHL today, there are 61 COVID-positive inpatients being treated in the hospital, of whom 5 are receiving critical care. We also continue to manage a COVID outbreak in the hospital that is affecting a number of inpatient wards, increasing demand for isolation beds and impacting on patient flow. High incidence of COVID-19 in community, including outbreaks in nursing homes, is affecting our capacity to discharge/transfer patients whose acute episode of care has concluded. Delayed transfers of care are above average.

We are reminding members of the public that our Injury Units are open seven days a week, including bank holiday Monday. Injury Units in Ennis Hospital and Nenagh Hospital are open from 8am to 8pm and St John’s Hospital from 8am to 7pm. For full contacts for the units, and the services available there, please see: https://www2.hse.ie/services/injury-units/

We apologise to patients who are experiencing long waits for an inpatient bed at UHL as a result of the significant demands on our service.