Independent Tipperary Councillor Seamus Morris is hitting out at TDs in North Tipperary and accusing them of finally awakening to the reality of overcrowding issues in University Hospital Limerick(UHL).
Cllr Morris claims that Deputies Michael Lowry and Alan Kelly both supported the Reconfiguration Plans put in place in 2009.
This plan included the closure of Emergency Departments at Nenagh, Ennis and St John’s hospitals with the Mid West Region to be served by an Emergency Department(ED) located at University Hospital Limerick.
The hospital has suffered from chronic overcrowding since then leading to concerns about patient care in the ED and the frequent cancellation of planned healthcare.
UHL activated Full Capacity Protocols every day in 2023 – Cllr Morris says this situation should have motivated the TDs to seek improvements due to what he calls the “incredible suffering caused to patients and staff at UHL.”
Cllr Morris is asking both TDs to now support his call for an independent investigation as to why Reconfiguration was carried out without the necessary number of acute beds being put in place first.
The hospital is still 70 beds short of what was promised in 2009.
The hospital is today reporting 143 admitted patients on trolleys – this is made up of 59 patients in the ED area and 84 admitted patients accommodated in UHL by placing their trolley in some ward of the hospital. Cork University Hospital(CUH) is the next highest today with 48 patients on trolleys.
Nationally there are 539 admitted patients on trolleys today including 4 at Tipperary University Hospital in Clonmel.
