Mid West Hospital Campaign Group To Appear At Oireachtas Petition Committee This Week

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The Mid West Hospital Campaign group are to appear before the Oireachtas Petitions Committee on November 16th. to make the case for the reopening of Emergency Departments(EDs) at other hospitals in the Mid-West to alleviate the pressure on University Hospital Limerick(UHL) – the only ED in the region.

On 23 October, a new record was set for the number of patients on trolleys at UHL, with 130 people in corridors waiting for care. The Campaign group says the situation reached levels of danger unprecedented in what it calls “the shameful history of the failed reconfiguration of ED services in the Midwest.“  

In the lead-in to the appearance next week the group is calling on all elected representatives to stand with their constituents and support the campaign in support of the reopening of the EDs in Nenagh, St John’ Limerick and Ennis  as a matter of urgency – 15,000 members of the public signed a petition to this effect. This petition was submitted to the Joint Committee on Public Petitions and the Ombudsmen on 21 June 2022 and the campaign group are relieved to finally have an opportunity to bring their campaign to Leinster House.

The 11-person Committee is Chaired by Tipperary TD Martin Browne and includes Limerick TD Richard O’Donoghue.