UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL LIMERICK has broken a record for the highest number of patients without a bed, according to a leading nursing union.

Some 85 patients were without beds in University Hospital Limerick this morning, the highest figure ever recorded in an Irish hospital in a single day according to Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) figures.

The union has called for emergency funding to tackle the issue.

In March, the INMO learned a ward in the hospital was to be closed, Ward 1A, used primarily for the treatment of  patients who require short periods of admission, causing the loss of 17 funded beds.

A move that was described as “beggars belief” by local Sinn Fein TD Maurice Quinlivan, and one that the INMO warned would cause further overcrowding issues.

Patients without beds are typically on chairs and trolleys, often in corridors lined along each wall without privacy and often in severe discomfort.

In Limerick, there were 55 patients in the emergency department and 30 in wards elsewhere in the hospital.

The INMO has called for a direct, immediate intervention in the hospital from senior HSE management, including:

• Cancellation of non-essential elective work
• More home care packages to move patients out of the hospital
• Emergency funding for extra agency staff
• An immediate end to the recruitment ban for nurses and midwives
• Extra support for GPs and Public Health Nurses to allow more home/community treatment

There are also a further 631 patients without beds across the country, 22 of them children.

The other worst-hit hospitals include:   Cork University Hospital, 52, Letterkenny University Hospital, 47, Tallaght University Hospital, 36
and University Hospital Galway, 33.

INMO assistant director of Industrial Relations for the region, Mary Fogarty said:  “Despite the best efforts of local staff, the situation in Limerick continues to escalate.

“The hospital is breaking records in the worst possible way.

“Promises of future improvement will not suffice. Real action is needed today.

“We simply do not have sufficient capacity.

Related Reads

'Obscene': 679 patients waiting for hospital bed - the highest figure in 2019

A 10% increase in nursing home places would reduce hospital stays by 19,000 days

“Without an increase in beds and the professionals to staff them, this problem will continue to escalate.

“Our members are on the frontline providing the best care they can but the situation is intolerable for them and unsafe for patients.”

Alan Kelly TD, has called for a bespoke plan for the hospital.

“This is not good enough for patients, staff and their families,” he said.

“We need a specific plan for University Hospital Limerick.

“The circumstances people are being left in are disgraceful.

“Staff in UHL are over stretched, stressed  beyond words because of the recruitment ban the government continues to deny exists.”