A DECISION on which of the three options proposed by HIQA will best tackle the hospital overcrowding and the trolley crisis in Limerick will be made before Christmas.
That was the promise from Health Minister Jennifer Carroll MacNeill today (Monday) as she officially opened the new 96-bed block at University Hospital Limerick (UHL).
The Minister said that “every option” outlined in the commissioned HIQA report on the issue of emergency care in the Mid West region is “still on the table”.
HIQA provided three options for addressing overcrowding in the region: expanding capacity at the current UHL site in Dooradoyle, extending the UHL campus to a second nearby site, or developing a new Model 3 hospital with a second emergency department.
HIQA suggested the first two options, expansion or extension, are more likely to solve immediate patient safety risks in a shorter timeframe, while the third option has the potential to meet long-term needs but would take longer to implement.
Opening the €105million new 96-bed facility this Monday, the Minister also welcomed this week’s news that planning permission has been granted for a second 96-bed block at UHL.
The new block, which consists of four wards of 24 beds, will provide jobs for around 400 additional staff. It’s understood that around 300 of these are already recruited and the block is fully operational, with patients in beds and a combination of agency staff and other measures in place to ensure staffing is up to par.
While acting immediately on increasing bed capacity, Minister Carroll McNeill said that future proofing is also a priority for the health service in the Mid West.
“We must also recognise that this is a region that is going to continue to grow. While we are increasing the bed capacity here by 82 per cent within a decade, while we have increased investment by well over 90 per cent in the last five yers, I am saying to you that the 20-year vision is that that is not going to be enough,” she said.
Developed in a new block linked to UHL’s critical care facilities, the beds are configured in four storeys of 24 en-suite single rooms and bring the hospital’s inpatient bed capacity to 650.
Providing two new wards for older persons, one renal ward, and one trauma ward, the single rooms maximise protection for patients with infection prevention and control requirements.
Each of the four wards has purpose-designed specialist rooms; including a bariatric room, two isolation rooms, and one disabled-access room.
Rooms on each ward are arranged in three groups of eight, with one nursing and support station for each group.
All rooms have views either across Limerick City or over landscaped courtyards, benefiting from natural light and ventilation for patient wellbeing.
The spacious rooms are designed to better facilitate family contact and each ward has its own waiting area and family meeting room.
