Trolley figures at University Hospital Limerick again hit national peak

UNIVERSITY Hospital Limerick again has the unwanted distinction of being the most overcrowded hospital in the country this Tuesday, according to figures.

UHL has 43 patients on trolleys this Tuesday – across the emergency department and on wards – according to figures collated by the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation.

The Midland Regional Hospital, Mullingar, is the nearest to Limerick on the INMO trolley and ward watch list, with 41 patients on trolleys this Tuesday.

UHL had 37 patients on trolleys on Monday and the figure had increased to 35 on Friday from the previous day’s 28 last week.

On Wednesday of last week – February 15 – the trolley figures at UHL were also the highest in the country and have been consistenly high in recent weeks and months, with the end result being that the hospital is regularly the most overcrowded in the country.

27 beds that were opened between St John’s Hospital, Ennis and Nenagh hospitals to alleviate overcrowding have now reverted back to their original use.

A state-of-the-art emergency department is expected to open this May, subject to a successful recruitment campaign and HSE funding.

It will be three times the size of the current facility, and is expected to improve the patient and staff experience at the hospital, a spokesperson for the UL Hospitals Group has said.