LAST UPDATE | 2 May

OPPOSITION TDS HAVE called for “urgent action” to be taken after an unannounced inspection carried out last November found that “significant risks” to patient safety remain at the Emergency Department at University Hospital Limerick (UHL).

The Health Information and Quality Authority (Hiqa) carried out the inspection at UHL on 21 November last. 

UHL’s Emergency Department has been consistently and chronically overcrowded for years and the hospital has frequently been in the news in recent months. 

The publication of the Hiqa report comes after a verdict of medical misadventure was returned last at the inquest into the death of 16-year-old Aoife Johnston at UHL in December. 

She died of bacterial meningitis on 19 December 2022 after a 12-hour wait in the overcrowded Emergency Department.

The inspection of the Emergency Department found that since the last inspection, the hospital had made improvements in resourcing, supports and alternate pathways.

It had established an Urgent and Emergency Care Directorate to coordinate the strategic and operational function of the emergency and urgent care services across the six hospital sites of the UL Hospitals Group.

However, it also found that “significant risks to patient safety remain”. 

It found that the ongoing mismatch between the number of people attending the Emergency Department and the hospital’s capacity resulted in overcrowding, with patients admitted to the hospital continuing to be accommodated in the ED.

Hiqa said there was evidence that the hospital management and staff were aware of the need to respect and promote the dignity and privacy of people receiving care in the ED. 

However, it said that the boarding of 35 admitted patients in the ED, 19 of whom were on trolleys in corridors, did impact on meaningful promotion of dignity and privacy for all patients and was not consistent with the human rights-based approach to care supported and promoted by the watchdog. 

‘Clarion call for urgent action’

In a statement this afternoon, Sinn Féin’s health spokesperson David Cullinane said the HIQA report is “yet another clarion call for urgent action to expand capacity and improve management of safety risks at the hospital”.

He said urgent action is needed from the Government to address the “health crisis” in Limerick and the Midwest.

“Short-term sticking plasters will not deliver the change that is needed, and which the people of the Midwest deserve,” Cullinane said.

“The Government should end the recruitment embargo, urgently fund and fast-track 288 additional inpatient beds for the Midwest to end overcrowding at University Hospital Limerick and get ahead of the problem.”

Labour’s health spokesperson Duncan Smith also urged “political leadership” from Government to address the findings of the report. 

“Staff in University Hospital Limerick are stretched to their limits, facing unprecedented levels of stress and pressure. The government’s denial of a recruitment ban only exacerbates the situation, leaving frontline workers without the support they desperately need,” Smith said.

“The Minister’s plans will amount to nothing if there aren’t safe staffing levels in place. We need immediate action to address the chronic overcrowding crisis at University Hospital Limerick and ensure the safety and well-being of both patients and staff.”

Yesterday, Taoiseach Simon Harris said he had “significant concerns” about UHL and the challenges that remain with overcrowding in hospitals. 

On Tuesday, the HSE said a support team will be put in place in UHL in an attempt to ease overcrowding.

Harris said the team will begin its work immediately and over the next four weeks, it will help to “devise a number of actions” to help pressures in UHL.

“It will work with the team in place in the hospital to manage patient flow and to de-escalate the current pressures being experienced,” Harris said.

With reporting by Jane Moore and Press Association