The opening, last month, of a 96-bed unit at University Hospital Limerick (UHL) did little to mitigate world-war like conditions inside the hospital’s overcrowded Emergency Department (ED) this week.
The €105million euro facility has been taking patients, however inside the trolley trenches of the emergency department, the sickest of patients were stuffed together cheek by jowl, holding onto trolleys, chairs, or even a loved one for much-needed support.
Photographs taken inside the emergency department zone in recent days show patients languishing on trolleys across on both sides of corridors with little or no room to walk.
The level of overcrowding grew so dire Tuesday night that UHL communications department issued a SOS call late Tuesday night for people to “consider all available healthcare alternatives before attending the ED”.
The “sickest, most seriously injured and frailest patients” were being prioritised, the hospital said.
“UHL is currently experiencing huge demand for its services, with upwards of 350 people attending the Emergency Department in the past 24 hours, with approximately half these patients arriving to ED without GP referral,” read a UHL statement.
Such was the level of patient overcrowding, UHL issued a advisory to the public that “the Emergency Department is for patients with life-threatening emergencies”.
“Anyone with less urgent illnesses is going to experience a long wait, perhaps unnecessarily,” it said.
UHL urged people to find and use alternative healthcare options including “local pharmacies an family doctors, walk-in injury clinics, and medical assessment units”.
“When your GP’s surgery is closed, Shannondoc (0818-123-500) is open from 6pm to 8am, Monday to Friday, and all day (24 hours) on Saturday and Sunday,” it said.
“We apologise to every patient who has experienced long waits for a bed in UHL. Our staff are doing everything to provide the best possible care, and we continue to monitor the situation closely and will provide further updates as necessary.”
Injury Units are a walk-in service, open 8am to 8pm at Ennis, Nenagh and St John’s Hospital for treatment of a range of injuries that don’t need hospitalisation, such as broken bones, dislocations, and minor burns, the HSE said.
In the mid west there is a “typical patient experience time of around two hours” it said.
For advice, contact:
· Ennis Injury Unit – 065 686 3121
· Nenagh Injury Unit – 067 423 11
· St John’s Injury Unit – 061 462 132