UL Hospitals Group is apologising to all patients facing long delays for a bed at University Hospital Limerick.
They says it’s not the care we wish to provide for our patients, management and staff are making every effort to minimise wait times for admitted patients.
The hospital remains under severe pressure as a result of sustained high demand at our Emergency Department.
Today the situation at the hospital has been raised to their level of escalation at and this will result in cancellations in scheduled care.
Full Statement from UL Hospitals Group:
We apologise to all patients facing long delays for a bed at University Hospital Limerick. This is not the care we wish to provide for our patients and we would like to assure patients and their loved ones that management and staff are making every effort to minimise wait times for admitted patients.
The hospital remains under severe pressure as a result of sustained high demand at our Emergency Department. On Tuesday and Wednesday of this week a total of 273 and 259 patients attended our ED. This compares to the average 209 daily attendances during 2021, our busiest year on record.
At 8am this morning, April 21st, there were a total of 85 admitted patients waiting for a bed outside of designated bed areas. This included patients in the Emergency Department, Medical and Surgical Assessment Units and on the wards. There were not 126 patients waiting on trolleys at UHL today. However the numbers waiting for a bed remain far too high, resulting in poor patient experiences.
Elective activity is reviewed daily in line with our escalation plan, based on capacity and on the clinical need of patients, including elective patients coming in for time-critical investigations and procedures. We can confirm that we have this Thursday raised our level of escalation at UHL and this will result in cancellations in scheduled care.
