EXPANSION of University Hospital Limerick (UHL), either onsite or at a location nearby, or the development of a new Model 3 hospital in the region, with its own emergency department (ED), are the key recommendations from the long-awaited HIQA report on emergency care in the Mid West.
However, the health watchdog’s report does not paint a picture of a new Model 3 hospital for the region as a particularly viable solution in tackling the ongoing overcrowding crisis at UHL.
The Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) presented three options to Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll McNeill in its report, in an effort to reduce crowding and improve patient safety at UHL.
HIQA’s three options include the expansion of capacity at UHL on the Dooradoyle site (Option A), the extension of the UHL campus to a second site in close proximity under a shared governance and resourcing model (Option B), or the development of a new Model 3 hospital in the Mid West, to include a new ED (Option C).
HIQA was of the view that Options A or B “will likely yield the required inpatient capacity in the Mid West within a shorter timeframe, thereby addressing the immediate risk to patient safety”.
The health watchdog said that while a new Model 3 hospital and ED “may have the potential to meet longer-term bed requirements”, such a move “would be least capable of addressing immediate capacity deficits, while being associated with the longest lead times”
The report, published this Tuesday (September 30) is an independent review to inform decision-making on the delivery of urgent and emergency healthcare in the HSE Mid West region, covering Limerick, Clare, and north Tipperary.
Commenting on the publication of the report, HIQA’s director of healthcare regulation, Sean Egan, said the work “was prompted by significant concerns for patient safety in HSE Mid West, which have remained the utmost priority informing the advice provided to the Minister for Health”.
Dr Ryan said that “HIQA found that the core issue impacting urgent and emergency healthcare delivery in HSE Mid West is the significant inpatient bed capacity deficit relative to demand from patients presenting with more serious or complex care needs”.
“This is intensified by an ever-growing demand for services, which will continue into the future as highlighted by the ESRI projections for the period up to 2040.”
The HIQA director added that “the current situation caused by the demand-capacity gap at UHL and across HSE Mid West presents a risk to patient safety.”
HIQA’s advice highlighted an immediate need for action and investment to address current risks to patient safety in the shortest timeframe and safest way possible.
The solution, HIQA said, must also have regard for the ESRI projected capacity requirements to 2040.
This comes on foot of a chronic overcrowding crisis at UHL, highlighted significantly this week when, according to figures from the Irish Nurses and Midwives Union, there were 147 and 133 people, respectively, left waiting on trolleys in the ED and on wards elsewhere across UHL for an in-patient bed on Monday and Tuesday of this week.
