'If this happened in Dublin, everybody would be up in arms': ULHG cancelled appointments

THE president of the Irish Hospital Consultant Association (IHCA) has said there is an unlevel playing field in terms of the HSE’s handling of Limerick hospitals to that of Dublin.

Professor Gabrielle Colleran, president of the IHCA, has reacted to the cancellation of all scheduled care across the University of Limerick Hospitals Group (ULHG), saying that “if this happened in Dublin, everybody would be up in arms”.

Elective surgeries, endoscopies and outpatient appointments have been cancelled by UHLG for an indefinite period in a bid to "prioritise urgent and emergency care".

“Why is a person in the Limerick region getting less of a service from the healthcare system than people around the country?,” asked professor Colleran during an interview on national radio this Friday morning.

“If this happened in Dublin, everybody would be up in arms,” she said. “It’s not acceptable that it is happening to the people of Limerick.”

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Appointments and operations have been cancelled at University Hospital Limerick (UHL), Ennis, Nenagh, St John’s Hospital and Croom Orthopaedic Hospital until further notice in order to “de-escalate the UHL site”.

“When people compare Limerick to Waterford and the likes, it’s comparing apples and oranges,” professor Colleran continued. 

“The population that Limerick serves, it has 25% less beds than it should and it also has the least number of consultants per capita. There are about a third less than what we have in the west and the north west, amounting to about 100 fewer consultants for the Mid-West. 

“Limerick are playing in an All-Ireland final and they’re fielding three-quarters of a team and three-quarters of the beds and then they’re berated when they can’t perform to the level of other hospitals that have increased resources.”

Professor Colleran continued by saying that the IHCA would not “abandon the people of Limerick” and would instead “work collaboratively with those on the frontline”. 

She said “deferred care is care denied” and that the IHCA “will stand with and for the people of Limerick not accepting this”.

In the Limerick and Mid-West region, there are approximately over 400,000 people dependent on the hospitals. There were over 240,000 outpatient appointments in the region last year. 

Cancellations are thought to have a direct negative impact on patients’ health, according to the ICHA.  

This Friday, August 9, there are 92 patients waiting on trolleys in the University Hospital Limerick (UHL), according to the latest Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) figures.