THE WAY the HSE recruits staff has changed since the probe into the death of Shannon teenager Aoife Johnston, with staffing drives now starting before hospital buildings are even finished.
The new system, whereby recruitment drives start, interviews are held, and staff are offered jobs in advance of new builds being opened was outlined by outgoing HSE CEO Bernard Gloster.
Mr Gloster was making his final appearance before the Oireachtas health committee last week, ahead of his retirement next month.
“It’s based on the Frank Clarke recommendation in Limerick that we staff the beds before the builders finish. We’re moving to that model now,” Mr Gloster said.
Former Chief Justice Frank Clarke published a critical report on Ms Johnston’s death from sepsis in the emergency department of University Hospital Limerick (UHL) in September 2024.
It was found that her death could have been prevented if she had been given the right antibiotics in the necessary timeframe.
Some 297 new hospital beds nationwide were promised for last year but only 198 are currently in use and 240 in all are built, committee chair Pádraig Rice was told. Mr Gloster said recruitment has started for the unopened beds.
In the months following the opening of the new 96 bed-block in UHL last year, the number of admitted patients left waiting on trolleys in the emergency department (E)D and overflow wards greatly reduced at what was regularly Ireland’s most overcrowded hospital.
Numbers had more than halved on the majority of days, according to the daily Trolley Watch count taken each morning in all major hospitals by the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO).
However, numbers of patients on trolleys has jumped since Christmas, with the INMO recording in excess of 100 people needing a bed across numerous days.
On February 4, there were 127 people waiting for an in-hospital bed at UHL.
Addressing the overcrowding issue nationally, the HSE CEO said there had been “unprecedented numbers” attending EDs last month.
Addressing the ongoing trolley crisis, INMO General Secretary Phil Ní Sheaghdha said that “overcrowding is not just restricted to a handful of large hospitals, we are seeing patients on trolleys and an over reliance on surge capacity in nearly each acute hospital. Each hospital is now over 100 per cent capacity, well over the recommended 85 per cent occupancy rate.”
Mr Gloster also told the committee that five new surgical hubs – including one in Limerick – will become operational and two more will commence development. The Limerick hub had been expected to open in 2024 .
The HSE Mid West was asked for comment on the increased numbers waiting for beds in UHL.