Major overcrowding at University Hospital Limerick for third day in a row

UNIVERSITY Hospital Limerick has endured high levels of overcrowding for the third day in a row this week, an Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation report shows.

According to the daily report by INMO, there were 48 patients being treated on trolleys in the emergency department, and on additional trolleys and beds in the wards at the Dooradoyle facility this Wednesday morning. 

It has the highest level of overcrowding in the country, the report shows. Nationally, there are 601 patients being treated on trolleys, which is one of the highest rates of national overcrowding ever recorded by the trade union.

This high level of overcrowding comes after the announcement that 36 beds were to be opened between St John’s Hospital, Ennis and Nenagh hospitals. Senator Kieran O’Donnell said that these extra beds will “help alleviate the A&E crisis" present at UHL.

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 spoeksperson for the UL Hospitals Group said.