The Mid West Hospital Campaign(MWHC) Group is rejecting the comments by University Hospital Limerick(UHL) CEO Collette Cowan that the group is misrepresenting UK research data on the effects of long delays for a hospital bed for patients in the UHL Emergency Department.
Ms Cowan made the comments in correspondence issued to public representatives in the Mid-West Region. Ms Cowan says the Mid-West Hospital Campaign group’s use of the UK research to claim that over 500 people have died due to delays at UHL is misleading and unhelpful.
The MWHC Group notes that the research quoted is also used by the Irish Association for Emergency Medicine to draw attention to the overcrowding difficulties in Ireland.
The Mid West Campaign Group adds that, data analyst Steve Black, a contributor and one of the authors of the original UK report states that Ireland’s overcrowding hospital crisis has potentially led to 14,500 deaths between March 2015 and March 2022.
The Mid West Hospital Campaign Group says they will continue to use all resources available in the campaign to have ED services restored to Nenagh, Ennis and St John’s Limerick and will send a defence of their claims to all elected public representatives in the Mid West Region.
The INMO reports 100 patients on trolleys in UHL today – the next highest figure is 39 in Cork University Hospital. 11 patients are on trolleys in TUH Clonmel.
