THE number of people waiting on trollies at a Limerick hospital is “threatening patient safety”, according to a Limerick TD.
Willie O’Dea TD has expressed concern following another dramatic rise in the number of people waiting on trolleys in University Hospital Limerick’s Emergency Department. The latest figures from the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation show there are 54 people awaiting admission at University Hospital Limerick.
The trolley watch figures for UHL, the highest throughout the country for this Tuesday, showed that 39 patients were in the hospital’s Emergency Department with a further 15 on trollies in the hospital’s wards.
Deputy O’Dea commented, “Once again, we see the situation in University Hospital Limerick’s Emergency Department reaching critical levels. Despite having predicted a worsening of the situation, Minister Leo Varadkar’s response has been unbelievably muted. The Emergency Department Taskforce has only held three meetings to date, despite the escalating crisis.
Hospital management has blamed an increase in the prevalence of flu virus and the additional numbers presenting to the ED for the surge.
However Deputy O’Dea has claimed that “any measures which were being considered when the crisis had reached its peak in early January appear to have stalled, and now the trolley figures are on the rise once again. We cannot afford to have a repeat of the scenes which were witnesses last month, when people were being deprived of privacy and dignity, being treated in chairs or on trolleys in corridors in busy Emergency Departments. This is not the quality of care that patients should be faced with, when they are unwell and vulnerable.”
A statement issued by the UL hospitals group said that the number on trollies had fallen by 50 per cent, but admitted the numbers “still remain above what we would like”.
“The UL Hospital Group has seen an increase in patients waiting in their Emergency Department at University Hospital Limerick (UHL), due to a high volume of patients presenting to the ED. The Hospital Group has also seen an increase in the prevalence of the flu virus,” read the statement.
The contingency plan put in place to deal with over-crowding in the ED at UHL has been enacted, to assist in reducing numbers in the ED to the targeted thresholds.
Management had recently placed a cap of 20 people to be waiting on trollies.
All available beds are open across the group and where possible patients are being transferred from UHL to Ennis, Nenagh and St John’s for ongoing treatment.
Deputy O’Dea said however that “The Minister has failed to take adequate steps to address Emergency Department overcrowding, despite a range of measures being proposed by nursing and medical unions. The simple fact of the matter is there are not enough step-down beds, hospital beds and frontline medical staff to treat the increased number of patients creating an intolerable risk to patient safety.
“Additional resources must be allocated without delay if this situation is to be contained and managed effectively. If these measures are not forthcoming, the appalling situation facing patients in University Hospital Limerick’s Emergency Department will continue to get worse”.
