Overcrowding persists at University Hospital Limerick(UHL) this week with 108 admitted patients on trolleys at the Mid-West Region’s only Emergency Department(ED) on Tuesday(Nov 26th) – the data is compiled by the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation(INMO).
Nationally there are 599 admitted patients waiting for beds according to today’s data which includes 18 children under the age of 16 on trolleys. Tipperary University Hospital is reporting a total of 12 admitted patients on trolleys for November 27th.
The figure of 108 in UHL is higher than the second and third worst trolley totals combined – 49 in University Hospital Galway and 43 in Cork University Hospital respectively.
As of November 17th 97 patients from UHL have been transferred to the CNU in Nenagh which is being managed by Bartra Health care to provide sub-acute beds for UHL.
The Nenagh Rehabilitation Unit, as it is known, commenced operations on the 9th September 2024 and the contract is due to expire in August 2025.
UHL will have 71 new beds opening in 2025 – the Nenagh unit was built as a replacement for St Conlan’s Nursing home and staff and residents had expected to be using the building in late 2023/early 2024 – this may now happen in 2025.
An interim report from HIQA is due in January as regards the need for and possible location for a second ED in the Mid-West region which is the only heath area in Ireland that does not have a model 3 type hospital which would provide 24/7 acute surgery, acute medicine, and critical care.
