There's public outcry over the level of overcrowding at the region's main hospital today.
There's public outcry over the level of overcrowding at the region's main hospital today.
66 people were left waiting for beds at University Hospital Limerick this morning, 20 more than any other hospital in the country.
Ballyea Man Leonard McNamara, accompanied his father to the Emergency Department at Dooradoyle on New Year's Day.
Today, he told Clare FM's Morning Focus of that experience on a day that the trolley crisis is back in focus.
The number of people waiting for beds at University Hospital Limerick has matched an all-time high of 66, 30 of them in the Emergency Department.
The total number is 20 more than any other hospital in Ireland.
It comes after 16 ambulances, reportedly the entire fleet for the Mid-West region, were left waiting outside the hospital yesterday evening for a time, as paramedics waited to offload patients into the ED.
A Clare Fine Gael TD has described the health system as a broken one, which needs to be overhauled.
Deputy Joe Carey believes more services need to be provided at Ennis General Hospital to relieve pressure, but he doesn't think a 24 hour Emergency Department is feasible.
In a statement to Clare FM, The UL Hospitals Group says The Christmas/New Year period has been exceptionally busy, with many frail elderly patients requiring admission to hospital.
Since the beginning of December, there have been 66 confirmed cases of flu at the hospital, which exacerbated the situation.
Health Minister Simon Harris says there's a review underway into the bed capacity in the Irish system, and if that shows it's not up to scratch, he'll deal with it.
