MANAGEMENT at University Hospital Limerick (UHL) has urged people with “less urgent” health needs not to attend the hospital’s Emergency Department (ED) due to “record numbers” of patient attendances.
Despite €25m being invested in the Limerick ED in 2017, it has often been overcrowded, and hospital management has several times apologised for long delays for patients in the emergency department.
Dr Joe Kelly, Consultant in Emergency Medicine, UL Hospitals Group, said: “We urge people to continue attending ED for suspected heart attacks and strokes and other serious illnesses or accidents”.
However, Dr Kelly warned “anyone who has a less serious injury is going to experience delays, so we’re asking them to consider all the healthcare alternatives to GP where that’s appropriate”.
Outlining the present drain on the emergency department at UHL, he said: “On Monday of this week, alone, there were 280 presentations to ED — that’s 85 more than the average attendance in the last full year before the pandemic.”
“In short, we’re at capacity, and all staff are working to ensure our patients are provided with safe care, and that emergency healthcare is prioritised for the significant numbers of people who need these services most urgently right now.”
Today UHL was the most overcrowded hospital in the country with 44 patients on trolleys, the majority, (41), in the ED.
Injury Units, GPs, out-of-hour GP services and pharmacists are all available as alternative options to presenting at an Emergency Department.
Dr Kelly said the numbers presenting at UHL including “emergency presentations and admissions are of a level rarely experienced here, even before the pandemic”.
A spokesman offered that hospitals around the country have experienced exceptionally high levels of emergency presentations and admissions, but that record levels of emergency presentations have continued into this week at UHL.
“The 280 presentations to the ED at UHL on Monday were followed by 276 on Tuesday July 13th. In 2019, the last full year pre-pandemic, average daily ED presentations stood at 195,” he explained.
Additional ward rounds, accelerated discharges and identification of patients for transfer to the UL Group’s Model 2 hospitals have been implemented to try to mitigate the pressure on the Model 4 ED.
The spokesman however highlighted how the system requires matching high volumes of patients “with a level of care that only UHL can provide in the region” as it is the only Model 4 hospital serving a catchment of over 400,000 across Limerick City and County, Clare, North Tipperary, and parts of North Cork.
“One measure of the acuity of inpatients is the number who require 1:1 care or “specialling” with a nurse or healthcare attendant. This usually averages at approximately 25 patients in UHL at any one time but stood at 47 patients requiring this enhanced care on Tuesday July 13th,” said the spokesman.
“As well as a high proportion of complex unwell medical patients, UHL is also prioritising urgent, time-critical and emergency surgery.”
Injury Units in the region are open seven days a week, including bank holiday Monday, including at Ennis Hospital and Nenagh Hospital from 8am to 8pm and St John’s Hospital Limerick from 8am to 7pm.
“We apologise to patients who are experiencing delays as a result of the significant demands on our service,” added the spokesman.
