ELECTIVE surgery and other diagnostic procedures have been cancelled at University Hospital Limerick (UHL) for the remainder of this week, as patient overcrowding heaped pressure on the hospital’s emergency department.
The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) said that 80 patients were without beds at UHL “with more than 12 being cared for on chairs overnight, without even a trolley”.
This is the highest figure recorded in an Irish hospital since the Covid-19 restrictions began and the INMO has called for urgent intervention from Health Minister Stephen Donnelly.
The INMO want to see the immediate appointment of an external crisis management team to oversee governance at the hospital and open additional bed capacity and recruit staff to fill vacancies.
The union warned that the HSE’s stated “no tolerance” policy for overcrowding during Covid was clearly being broken, along with social distancing guidelines, placing staff and patients at risk.
“The hospital is in a chronic state of overcrowding. There are admitted patients on chairs – as there aren’t even enough trolleys anymore,” said INMO Industrial Relations Officer for Limerick, Mary Fogarty.
“This would be an exceptionally high level of overcrowding in normal times. With Covid, the infection risk to staff and patients goes through the roof.
“Frontline staff are doing the best they can, but this is a crisis that is not going away in Limerick. Nurses are rightly describing the ongoing situation as dangerous. The Minister and HSE cannot stand idly by. They need to intervene nationally to put a clear, workable plan in place,” she added.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, UHL urged the public to consider all care options before deciding to go to the emergency department, and that all elective activity was cancelled until at least Friday, September 18.
The Limerick was opened in 2017 at a cost of €25 million but patient overcrowding has continued, despite a brief lull in the numbers on trolleys at the height of the coronavirus pandemic last March.
“In the 24-hour period up to 8am on September 15, a total of 238 patients attended the emergency department. The average number of daily attendances during 2019 was 195. It follows an unusually busy weekend for the emergency department,” a hospital spokesman said.
“Cancellations include elective surgery and certain diagnostic procedures. Outpatient clinics will continue to run, and we regret the impact these cancellations will have on patients who have been self-isolating in advance of coming for their procedure.
“Affected patients are being contacted directly and will be rescheduled at the earliest opportunity. Elective activity at our other hospitals is unaffected by this decision.
“Every effort is made to ensure physical distancing is maintained and to keep wait times to a minimum. All patients continue to receive expert medical care while they wait,” the spokesman added.