‘Hospital crisis is reputationally damaging region’ says Limerick Chamber

LIMERICK Chamber has warned the region’s hospital crisis is hitting employers’ prospects of hiring and keeping staff.

As the countdown to a march in protest at the overcrowding in University Hospital Limerick (UHL) continues, the largest business representative group in the region has waded into the debate, warning the issue is becoming “reputationally damaging” for the Mid-West.

Its chief executive Dee Ryan, who is to attend the march in a personal capacity, says the shortage of acute beds for the region is “very concerning” for employers and their workers.

“Businesses in the Mid-West are asking why government has not sufficiently addressed the bed shortage. There are fears that the consistent negative messaging around hospital access in the Mid-West is disadvantaging Clare, Limerick and Tipperary in winning investment announcements. It is certainly not the first or the only factor in making a location decision, but it could be the factor that decides it,” she said.

It’s a rare intervention on healthcare from Limerick Chamber, which once again moves to highlight the seriousness of the situation here.

In the last week, consultant physician Prof Declan Lyons has described conditions in the emergency department as “inhumane”, while Limerick backbench government TD Willie O’Dea wants to see “new management” take over at UHL.

There’s expected to be a strong turnout at the march, kicking off on Saturday, January 21 at 11am from City Hall at Merchant’s Quay in the city centre.

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Limerick Leader staff will be out in force, and we are encouraging all of our readers to take part. It’s an opportunity for business leaders, community groups, sporting organisations and charities to unite behind something that impacts us all.

The route of the demonstration has been changed, amid fears many elderly and infirm people might not be able to complete the four-kilometre journey out to the gates of UHL.

But the Limerick spokesperson for Mid-West Health Campaign, a group supporting the march, said they are seeking “maximum impact” by keeping it in the city centre, and are aiming to go “hell for leather”.

“You could have had a very strong showing at the start of the march in the town if it was going to the hospital, then it would have fallen off as you made your way up to the Crescent. You’d have people fall in, but more would fall out. By the time you ended at the hospital, it would have been less of an impact,” they explained. “This way you’re going to keep the entire match together from start to finish which will be very impactful.”

Dr Marie Casey, a specialist in public health medicine at Public Health Mid-West, said this week that a “perfect storm of infections” is contributing to the demand on health resources.

Speaking on RTE’s Morning Ireland, she highlighted the increase in infections post Covid-19, due to more socialising happening, the fact people who have been isolating have missed out on two years of natural immunity, and the fact many children will not have had the number of infections they normally would have had by the age of two.

On top of this, she added that viral outbreaks lead to an increase in bacterial infections.