THE public have been urged to avoid the Emergency Department at University Hospital Limerick unless they require emergency medical treatment, as the hospital manages “exceptionally high emergency attendances and admissions”.
A spokeswoman for UL Hospitals Group, Saturday, urged people “to consider all available care options before attending the Emergency Department (ED) at University Hospital Limerick (UHL)”.
The hospital is working to a pre-arranged “Escalation Plan”, which includes “additional ward rounds, accelerating discharges and identifying patients for transfer to our Model 2 hospitals”, the spokeswoman explained.
“However, current demand for our services is multi-faceted. High numbers of admitted patients require a level of care that, for the Mid-West, can only be provided at UHL. In general, patients currently admitted to UHL are sicker and with more complicated conditions, and require longer inpatient stays to recover,” the spokeswoman said.
As an alternative to the ED, oval injury units are open in the region including in Ennis and Nenagh from 8am to 8pm, and St John’s Limerick, from 8am to 7pm.
“Injury Units are for the treatment of broken bones, dislocations, sprains strains, wounds, scalds and minor burns. Anyone with less serious illness or conditions should contact their GPs or out-of-hours GP services, however, if you are seriously injured or ill or are worried your life is at risk the ED will assess and treat you as a priority,” they added.
The spokeswoman said the hospital group “apologise to any patient who has experienced a long wait for admission to UHL during this period of exceptionally high demand for our services”.
UHL has consistently been the most overcrowded hospital in the country for the last number of years, despite additional beds, and a new ED which opened in 2017.
