The UL Hospitals Group is apologising to patients and families affected by the cancellation of some day cases at Ennis hospital today.
It comes amid sustained high numbers of attendances at the Emergency Department in University Hospital Limerick, as Clare FM’s Fiona Cahill reports.
According to figures compiled by the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation, in excess of 100 people have been waiting for beds at University Hospital Limerick on two days this week – that number dipped to 98 today.
The UL Hospitals Group has indicated that over the past 10 days, daily ED attendances have averaged 234, with 761 since the start of this week alone.
Hospital management say these numbers are far in excess of pre-pandemic daily average attendances and come at a time when all hospitals in the Group are caring for high numbers of inpatients, many of whom are very sick with complex conditions.
They say they’re working to balance the marked demand on ED with the needs of high-acuity inpatients, while safely maintaining time-critical and other elective surgical activity.
There have been a number of cancellations of less urgent day cases at Ennis Hospital in recent days so the most time-critical work can proceed, with those affected contacted directly by staff.
ULHG has apologised to impacted patients and their families, saying decisions like these are difficult to make, but are necessary in the interests of patient safety.
Elective surgery lists across hospital sites will remain under continual review over the coming days.
Statement from the UL Hospitals Group
University Hospital Limerick is currently managing very high numbers of attendances at its Emergency Department, sustained over the past two weeks.
Over the past 10 days, daily ED attendances have averaged 234, with a total of 761 presentations since the start of the week (270 on Monday, 248 on Tuesday, 235 on Wednesday).
These numbers are far in excess of pre-pandemic daily average attendances (195 in 2019), and come at a time when all hospitals in the Group, not just UHL, are caring for high numbers of inpatients, many of whom are very sick with complex conditions.
We are working to balance the marked demand on ED with the needs of high-acuity inpatients, while safely maintaining time-critical and other elective surgical activity.
Unfortunately, there have had to be some cancellations of less urgent day cases in Ennis and our other sites in recent days so that the most time-critical work can proceed. Decisions like these are the most difficult for any hospital to make, but they are necessary in the interests of patient safety, and we apologise to impacted patients and their families and loved ones.
All patients affected have been contacted directly by hospital staff, and will be rescheduled at the earliest possible opportunity. Elective surgery lists across our hospital sites will remain under continual review by over the coming days.
We would like to reassure the public that we are doing everything possible to maximise patient flow and minimise wait times.
We continue working to the escalation framework to create surge capacity and maximise numbers of inpatient beds. Additional ward rounding is ongoing in UHL so appropriate patients can be discharged or transferred to Ennis, Nenagh and St John’s Hospital. Work is also ongoing with HSE Mid West Community Healthcare in order to further expedite suitable discharges home or to community care beds.
While the ED remains in escalation, anyone attending with less than urgent conditions will face a lengthy wait, and we ask them to consider all available healthcare alternatives to ED including our Injury Units, GPs, out-of-hours GP services and pharmacists.
Emergency healthcare is being prioritised for the sickest patients most in need of care, and anyone with a serious injury or unexpected illness should come to ED or call 999/112.
Injury Units in Ennis, Nenagh and St John’s are operating as normal. Opening hours for Ennis and Nenagh Injury Units are 8am -8pm and St John’s Injury Unit 8am-7pm. For full contacts for the units, and the services available there, please see: https://www2.hse.ie/services/injury-units/
Meanwhile, longer term work is ongoing to address the shortage of acute bed capacity in this region, highlighted in the Deloitte Report as the fundamental driver of hospital overcrowding in the Midwest.
We’re grateful for the support of government for the increase in bed capacity since the start of the pandemic, including an additional 98 inpatient beds and 10 critical care beds at UHL, and construction work is continuing on the new 96-bed block development on the Dooradoyle site.
However, it should be noted that the 96-bed block will take two years to complete, and approximately half the new beds will be additional bed stock, with the remainder replacing beds currently in the multi-occupancy nightingale wards in the older parts of UHL.
With that in mind, we also welcome the Taoiseach’s recent favourable comments about a second 96-bed block that’s provided for in the UHL site masterplan. This block is currently being planned with HSE Capital & Estates. We expect that plans will be submitted to the HSE nationally for the second 96-bed block in the first quarter of this year.
