Limerick maternity hospital strategy boost for women 

WOMEN in Limerick and across the Mid-West will soon be able to avail of special community and outreach maternity services, as part of the UL Hospitals Group’s four-year strategy. 

The group’s Nursing and Midwifery Strategic Plan 2019-2022 was launched at University Hospital Limerick last week. 

Chief director of nursing and midwifery, Margaret Gleeson said that the strategy provides a framework for each of the 1,715 nurses and midwives to reach their full potential while driving improvements in patient care. 

“We are very fortunate to have such high calibre of experienced nurses and midwives working across the UL Hospitals Group,” she said.

“The strategic plan will provide the direction to assist with making the group an attractive place to work, fulfil professional development and support nurses, midwives and healthcare assistants in providing high quality, evidence-based care for our patients and mothers,” Ms Gleeson said. 

The new strategy forms part of the Government’s 10-year Slaintecare programme.   “Our strategic plan sets our priorities to continually improve our services. As we move forward, we will continue to focus on developing our nursing and midwifery profession. We will strengthen our collaborations with our academic partners at both undergraduate and post graduate level and with our colleagues in the Community Health Organisation to advance integrated care models,” she added.

Margaret Quigley, director of midwifery, University Maternity Hospital Limerick, said integrated care models would also be essential to developing maternity services in the Mid-West in the coming years.

She said that its five-step plan over the next four years will include the rolling out of a community midwifery integrated service, comprising outreach antenatal clinics, postnatal early transfer home service, domicilary care in and outside of hospital “and other elements of choice for women”.