With a record 82 people waiting for beds at University Hospital Limerick today, Labour Party Health spokesperson Alan Kelly has said that making more use of Nenagh Hospital would help to address the ongoing overcrowding crisis.
The Tipperary TD has described as ‘pathetic’, the response he got from the Health Minister when he raised the matter with him.
Deputy Kelly has said that what is needed to address the chronic overcrowding at UHL, is a real capital investment, with further investment in staffing.
He has further suggested that the ‘pathways for sending patients to minor injury units in Nenagh and Ennis need to be widened’.
He has called on Minister Simon Harris to immediately come forward with emergency proposals to deal with the crisis at UHL.
Meanwhile, it has been announced this afternoon that the addition of another MRI scanner – which Deputy Kelly said would clear some of the daily trolley backlogs at UHL – will be in place by the end of the year.
The announcement was made by HSE Director of Acute Operations, Liam Woods, at today’s meeting of the Oireachtas Health Committee.
