The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation is calling for Ministerial intervention at the region’s main hospital amid concern the volume of work facing staff at the facility.
It comes as elective activity and outpatient clinics are due to resume at University Hospital Limerick, following their cancellation last week based on the prediction that this past Bank Holiday weekend would be extremely busy.
Last weekend saw 207 attendances at the Emergency Department on Saturday and 185 on Sunday – far in excess of the average 157 presentations recorded in July 2019.
The UL Hospitals Group has said it regrets the move, and continues to work on its Escalation Plan.
INMO MidWest representative Mary Fogarty admits that while cancelling appointments can’t be the fallback, that nurses can’t continue to cope with the level of overcrowding at the hospital.
