University Hospital Limerick has once again set a new record for patients on trolleys, with 130 people waiting for admission on Monday morning.
There are more patients on trolleys across the hospital than in the emergency department itself, according to the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation.
UHL, which has the worst overcrowding of any Irish hospital, set the previous trolley record of 126 patients waiting for admission, in April 2022.
“Today’s record-breaking trolley figures in University Hospital Limerick comes as no surprise to our members who have been working in overcrowded and understaffed wards with no reprieve for years on end,” said INMO assistant director for industrial relations in the mid-west Mary Fogarty.
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“The fact that there are more patients on trolleys across the hospital itself than in the emergency department itself is making the provision of safe and timely care impossible. Patient flow out of the emergency department is proving difficult because of the sheer volume of trolleys across the hospital.
“Our members are burnt out and demoralised as a direct result of their working conditions. It is impossible for them to provide safe care in a working environment that is persistently dangerous.”
UHL has suffered overcrowding for years, despite significant investment in the hospital. Managers and local politicians blame its problems on the decision to close three local hospital emergency departments in Limerick, Tipperary and Clare in 2009.
A new ED opened in 2017 and 98 additional beds were provided during the Covid-19 pandemic. Last year, Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly deployed a HSE team to help with hospital but it appears to have made little difference. A further 96-bed block is under construction.
INMO members in the hospital met last week to discuss their concerns about safety. “Members feel that none of the interventions directed by hospital management have had any positive impact to date,” Ms Fogarty said.
“Hospital management and the Health Service Executive must outline what targeted interventions they intend to carry out to take the pressure off our members for the sake of patient safety.”
