THE UNIVERSITY of Limerick Hospital group was €18.4 million over budget up to July of this year and waiting lists for procedures for both children and adults have increased considerably since the beginning of the year.
The news of the massive budget overrun is highlighted in the latest Performance Assurance Report compiled by the Health Service Executive (HSE).
Meanwhile, Health Minister Leo Varadkar has expressed concern that the new Emergency Department for the University Hospital Limerick is still three years from completion and has ordered a report on services and conditions there.
The Performance Report shows that there were 16 per cent more children on the waiting list for procedures in July than there were in June, while and additional 20 per cent of adults were waiting more than 8 months for procedures.
MInister Varadkar announced he would be seeking a report after a meeting with Limerick Fine Gael TD, Kieran O’Donnell who has been campaigning for a temporary 30-bed short-stay unit to try to alleviate pressure on the A and E until the new unit opens in 2016.
This would involve converting the existing acute medical unit and moving that facility to another site on the hospital campus.
Deputy O’Donnell met with the Minister when the Dáil resumed and this was followed by a meeting between the MInister and the Director General of the HSE, Tony O’Brien to discuss the issue.
Deputy O’Donnell said that the Minister was “extremely concerned” after hearing about the situation at the emergency and being informed that the department is serving such a huge catchment area.
The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) has warned that the department is ” a danger for staff and patients,” while HIQA, the health watchdog condemned it as “not fit for purpose”.
INMO members have twice staged pickets at the Department in protest at conditions and the daily trolley and ward watch reports show patient numbers on trolleys and in closed wards often in the high twenties and thirties
