Some outpatient clinics are cancelled at University Hospital Limerick for tomorrow Thursday and also for Friday January 6th as the hospital works on prioritising care for inpatients and patients attending the Emergency Department. Hospital-wide visiting restrictions in place at UHL are to remain in place.
Patients affected by cancellations are being contacted directly by staff. Patients who are not contacted by phone or by text to cancel their appointment are advised to attend.
Clinics going ahead this Thursday and Friday, January 5th and 6th, include:
– Cancer services (oncology and haematology day ward; haematology and oncology outpatient clinics; medical oncology clinics; rapid access clinics for breast, lung and prostate)
– Dialysis
– Paediatric outpatients
– Acute Fracture Unit
Appointments deemed time-critical in other specialties will also go ahead.
Other hospitals are unaffected by these cancellations. Patients with an appointment for an outpatient clinic at Ennis, Nenagh, St John’s, Croom Orthopaedic and University Maternity Hospital Limerick are advised to attend.
Hospital management warns that anyone attending the Emergency Department with a less urgent condition is going to face an exceptionally long wait for care and asks the public to consider all available healthcare alternatives.
Injury Units in Ennis, Nenagh and St John’s are operating as normal. Opening hours for Ennis and Nenagh Injury Units are 8am -8pm and St John’s Injury Unit 8am-7pm. Cashel Minor injury unit operates Monday to Friday from 9am to 5pm. For full contacts for the units, and the services available there, please see: https://www2.hse.ie/services/injury-units/
Meanwhile Tipperary Fianna Fail TD says the management of UHL are not delivering the standard and volume of care expected.
Jackie Cahill says he supports extra hours of service at St Johns, Nenagh and Ennis hospitals and improvements in resources for Primary Care and step down beds to ensure prompt discharges of patients.
The Thurles based TD described the situation in UHL as a crisis situation and expressed sympathy to patients receiving care on trolleys or chairs in the Emergency Department.
Deputy Cahill says resources have been made available at the hospital and it was up to the HSE to ensure that senior management delivered.
Working conditions, remuneration and suitable accommodation were all factors that needed to be improved to ensure the health service could recruit and retain staff according to Deputy Cahill.
GP numbers were stagnant as the population was increasing which indicates further difficulties in the years ahead.
The Government is fully committed to delivering Sláintecare according to the TD as he also highlighted that there will be a net gain of 48 new beds in UHL when a new 96 bed block of ensuite rooms is completed.
