The region’s main hospital has recorded the highest level of overcrowding of any hospital in Irish history today.
The latest trolleywatch analysis from the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation shows 81 patients were left waiting for beds at University Hospital Limerick this morning.
The UL Hospitals Group is apologising to patients experiencing long waits and are appealing to people to examine all of their care options before presenting at Dooradoyle.
Nurses say 81 patients were left waiting for beds at University Hospital Limerick this morning, 52 of those on trolleys in the Emergency Department alone.
Its the highest number ever recorded in any hospital in the country, and is the fourth time the Dooradoyle facility has broken the national record.
The last time was in March 2013, when trolley numbers soared to 80.
Last week a 17-bed short-stay unit, which came on stream on a temporary basis following the closure of the old ED, closed to facilitate works on a new fracture unit.
At the time nurses warned that closing beds will only “worsen Limerick’s overcrowding crisis, with longer waits and more patients stuck on trolleys in public corridors”.
But the UL Hospitals Group has again pointed out that 22 beds have opened elsewhere in the hospital in recent weeks.
Hospital Management say there’s been a surge in patients attending the emergency department in recent days, with 236 attendances in the 24 hours up to midnight last night.
Measures are being taken to relieve pressure on the ED and as part of the hospital’s escalation policy, patients are being transferred to other hospitals within the group and community care settings.
People are being asked not to attend the Emergency Department unless necessary, and to visit their GP or GP out-of-hours service in the first instance and to utilise the injury unit at Ennis General Hospital.
Statement from the UL Hospitals Group
UL Hospitals Group sincerely regrets that any patient has to face long waits in our Emergency Department (ED) during busy periods and any distress or inconvenience this causes to patients and their loved ones.
The ED at UHL is one of the busiest in the country and the numbers presenting continue to increase year on year. Attendances to the end of December 2018 were 71,824 representing an increase of over 6% on 2017.
There has been a surge in presentations to Emergency Departments nationally in recent days. The ED in UHL has also been exceptionally busy with high numbers of patients presenting, including many frail elderly patients with complex medical conditions. In the 24 hours up to midnight on Monday, there were a total of 239 attendances in the ED. In the 24 hours up to midnight on Tuesday, that number was 236. These volumes are above average.
At 8am on Wednesday, April 3rd, there were there were 39 admitted patients waiting for a bed. In addition there were a further 13 patients appropriately isolated in single rooms within the ED. A shortage of appropriate isolation facilities elsewhere in the hospital makes this the best solution for proper infection prevention and control and in the interests of all patients. Patients requiring isolation facilities will also be transferred to a ward as soon as an appropriate room is available.
While patients still face delays in the new ED, it provides for a much improved patient experience compared to the old department and has resulted in improved patient outcomes; allowing for earlier diagnostics and treatment of the sickest patients, better isolation facilities, improved pathways for major trauma/critical care and quicker door-to-needle times for stroke patients.
UL Hospitals Group notes the commentary in recent days in respect of the closure of the 17-bedded Medical Short Stay Ward 1A and again points out that 22 beds have opened elsewhere in the hospital in recent weeks. The space occupied by 1A is being converted into a new acute fracture unit. This is in accordance with the overall plan to redesignate the space occupied by the old Emergency Department at UHL.
This will have a significant benefit for patients attending our busy fracture clinic in terms of reduced wait times and improved patient experience. After the old ED was vacated, the Medical Short Stay Unit opened on a temporary basis and this will shortly be converted to a fracture unit in accordance with the plan. The Group is looking forward to improving the experience of orthopaedic patients as well as increasing overall bed capacity.
UHL has just over 450 inpatient beds; this is recognised as not being sufficient for the needs of the MidWest Region. The Group welcomes the commitment to increasing bed capacity at UHL and in particular the €2million recently allocated for the enabling work for the 60-bed inpatient block at UHL. Work on this first phase of the 60-bed block has commenced in recent days and delivery of this project will begin to help us address our capacity issues in the MidWest.
Measures being taken to relieve pressure on the ED and as part of our escalation policy includes the transfer of suitable patients to other hospitals within our group; the transfer of appropriate patients to community care settings and maximising access to Homecare packages and Transition care; working closely with Community Intervention Teams to provide antibiotics and other appropriate care in a patient’s home or care facility and communication with GPs to ensure patients are referred to ED only where appropriate.
