RECORD numbers presenting at the University Hospital Limerick (UHL) emergency department this week are the “predictable” result of years of ignored warnings, hospital campaigners have said.
On Monday of this week (October 7), there were a record 325 people knocking on the doors of the UHL emergency department (ED) in need of urgent treatment in just one day.
This is far above last year’s the average figure of 219 attending per day, according to information on the HSE website.
Melanie Cleary, a spokesperson for the Mid West Hospital Campaign (MWHC), whose daughter Eve died from thrombosis after being discharged from UHL in 2019, said that Monday’s record figures are “what years of neglect from our elected politicians, successive health ministers and subsequent management of HSE and Roinn Sláinte have brought to the people of Limerick, Clare, and North Tipperary”.
The hospital issued an emergency media statement this Tuesday urging patients across the Mid West to “consider all care options” before attending the ED.
According to the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO), there were 110 patients waiting on trolleys for an in-hospital bed on Monday morning at UHL, 118 on Tuesday, and 88 on Wednesday.
Tuesdays figure, recorded by INMO, was the highest reported by the union at the hospital since early August 7 (when 127 were left waiting on trolleys) – the same day the hospital announced a weeks-long suspension of scheduled care because of demand on the ED “adversely affecting wait times and patient experience”.
4,600 appointments cancelled
According to those who contacted the MWHC at the start of the week, “the ED and all available spaces were filled to capacity with an estimated 180+ patients waiting. The walk in area was filled to capacity.”
“There were no trolleys available for patients being transported in by ambulance which inevitably led to ambulances being delayed,” the MWHC claimed.
“Trolleys that had patients were being rammed into any available space with patients sitting on chairs or anything that was available.”
The hospital campaign group said that “no patient in 2024 should have to tolerate such conditions. No staff should have to work under such pressure and such intolerable conditions. The pressure the staff are under plus the strain on their mental health is unacceptable and needs to be addressed urgently.”
The surge comes after a decision by the hospital to have a “reset” to relieve pressure on the ED in August, which saw a good deal of scheduled care at UHL suspended because of demand on the ED “adversely affecting wait times and patient experience”.
During the three-week period affected by that decision, according to Noreen Spillane, acting UHL CEO, 4,600 patients had operations or appointments cancelled at UHL. 433 endoscopies were cancelled across the three sites between August 8 and 27.
A further 1,423 day-care or in-patient procedures, which includes operations, were also cancelled across Ennis, Nenagh, St John’s, and Croom orthopaedic hospitals.
This added up to 2,627 outpatient appointments cancelled during the 20-day period, including 44 at the University Maternity Hospital Limerick.
A significant wait for ED care
A spokesman for the hospital this week said that UHL was experiencing an “unprecedented level of demand” at the overcrowded ED and called on those in need of treatment in the region to consider all options open to them.
The spokesman added that “surge capacity has been opened at UHL and scheduled activity in UHL and across all sites is under review, with the exception of urgent and time-critical patients, including cancer patients”.
The hospital has since said that the August “reset” was part of an overall plan to accommodate sick patients, and could be repeated if severe pressure on the ED resumed.
On Tuesday, with the ED facing “unprecedented demand” and a record 325 patient presentations on Monday, the spokesman for the hospital said: “We are appealing to the public to consider all care options before presenting at our emergency department.”
“We have been caring for an exceptionally high number of unwell medical patients in the hospital, which (on Monday) recorded its highest ever level of ED presentations, with 325 patients attending.”
The hospital apologised for long waits in admission in recent days, adding that “the ED remains open 24/7 and urgent care is being delivered to those who need it most. However, anyone who comes to ED who doesn’t have a life-threatening or severe illness or injury will face a significant wait.”
