Overcrowding at University Hospital Limerick remains highest nationally

OVERCROWDING at University Hospital Limerick remains at the highest level in the country this Wednesday, with 41 people being treated on trolleys.

According to figures collated by the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO), UHL has 22 patients on trolleys in the emergency department and 19 on trolleys in the wards – the highest in the country, followed closely by Cork University Hospital, which has 39.

The trolley figures place Limerick at the highest in the country for a third consecutive day this week, but have dropped from Tuesday’s 46.

The overcrowding figure has been consistently high at UHL but remains some way short of January’s peak of 66  – yet the hospital is regularly the most overcrowded in the country. 

27 beds that were opened between St John’s Hospital, Ennis and Nenagh hospitals to alleviate overcrowding have now reverted back to their original use.

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 spokesperson for the UL Hospitals Group has said.