The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation is calling for the implementation of the Major Emergency Plan at University Hospital Limerick to bring about a level of control and safety at the Emergency Department.
At 8am on Monday, 47 patients, who were admitted in the previous two days, but for whom no beds were available, were left on trolleys in the Emergency Department.
“This is catastrophic and the Major Emergency Plan should have been utilised by management at the hospital to protect the patients, the staff and to assist to make the hospital safe,” said Mary Fogarty, INMO representative for Limerick.
“Despite the fact that the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) in June 2014 detailed a range of risks resulting from the overcrowding in UHL, it still continues. The INMO has assessed that at least an additional 70 acute beds are required at the hospital to cope with the fallout from a totally mismanaged reconfiguration process in the Mid-West,” she added.
“We are also appealing to the new Minister for Health, Leo Varadkar, to take urgent action in respect of the consistent and deplorable overcrowding in the Emergency Department. If €2million is made available by the Minister, an additional 30 beds can be in place very shortly, in time for expected winter pressures”.
