Minister claims wait times are ‘not acceptable’ at University Hospital Limerick

MINISTER for Health Stephen Donnelly has officially opened a new pain management centre and new theatre suite at Croom Orthopaedic Hospital.

Minister Donnelly said; “The facilities are state of the art, they have designed them in a new way that they can get the patients in and out quickly, meaning more people can be seen and when we look at the waiting lists associated with all this, they are falling.”

With a lot of people still experiencing delays within the health service Minister Donnelly was pressed on the issues regarding this in the University Hospital Limerick (UHL) emergency department.

Speaking to Live95, Minister Donnelly explained; “The situation in the emergency department - and I can't be clearer about this - is not acceptable. It is not acceptable for patients, it is not acceptable for their family or your listeners and it is not acceptable for the health care workers in and around the emergency department.”

Limerick cycle to tackle homelessness

Minister Donnolly continued; “Since this government came in, the staff in the hospital has increased by 734 which is an increase of a quarter since June 2020.

“We have already added 108 beds which include ward beds, high dependency beds, critical care beds and there are also 96 beds under construction and I have sanctioned the construction of another 96 beds, as well as a surgical hub which will be added next year.

“Overall this will bring the total number of beds added to over 300.”

The minister explained; “I fully accept people going in there won't feel like there are changes, however, the trolley figures this year versus 2019 have decreased.

“The 8am trolley figure is down by 5% and the wait time for emitted patients is down by about 20%.”

When asked if the minister had confidence in the way the Limerick hospital is managed he said; “I am encouraged by the fact that the figures are significantly down and that HIQA’s latest report references that they are now seeing senior decision makers on site at the weekend which I believe has been one of the drivers for what we are seeing in Limerick and overall we are seeing improvement to patient flow.”