UL Hospitals Group urges public to consider 'all other healthcare options' this Easter weekend

TO HELP reduce long wait times in the emergency department (ED) at University Hospital Limerick (UHL) this Easter weekend, people are being asked to “consider all other healthcare options”. 

Ahead of the bank holiday weekend, the UL Hospitals Group has confirmed that all sites, including the ED, “remain very busy” and patients are being advised of “inevitably long waits”.

In a statement, UL Hospitals says there was average of 226 daily ED attendances during March with a high level of demand persisting. 

The statement reads: “As we continue to balance demand for emergency healthcare with the needs of inpatients, while safely maintaining time-critical and other elective activity, we’re asking people with less than urgent healthcare needs to consider our Injury Units and all other healthcare options to help avoid inevitably long waits at the ED.”

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The UL Hospitals Group is also reminding people that the injury units in Ennis and Nenagh are open daily from 8am - 8pm. St. John’s injury unit is open from 8am - 7pm. 

“Additional ward rounding is ongoing so that appropriate patients can be discharged or transferred to Ennis, Nenagh and St John’s Hospital.

“In common with hospitals across the country facing this long holiday weekend, we have requested that consultants and senior clinical decision makers are available over the weekend in order to support discharge and movement of patients,” the statement reads.

In addition to injury units, people who are less than acutely unwell, are advised to also consider GPs, out-of-hours GP services and local pharmacies before attending the ED.