Memorial vigil to be held outside University Hospital Limerick for those impacted by overcrowding

THE MID-WEST Hospital Campaign (MWHC) will be holding a memorial vigil for those impacted by overcrowding in the University Hospital Limerick (UHL).

The vigil will be held outside the UHL main gates, this Saturday, December 31 (New Year’s Eve) at 4pm.

Co-ordinator of the MWHC Noeleen Moran said: “This has probably been one of the worst years for overcrowding in UHL.

“For every 83 people left on trolleys, at least one person dies as a consequence of the overcrowding.

“We know people are dying due to the overcrowding… What we want to do to mark the end of the year is say that we are no longer accepting this and it is no longer acceptable that people in the Mid-West have to put up with these conditions,” Ms Moran mentioned.

Ms Moran continued: “We also want to remember those who have been lost throughout the year.”

The vigil has been organised by the MWHC and Marie McMahon of the MWHC has been a “driving force behind the campaign” according to Ms Moran.

“Marie lost her husband who died on a trolley in Limerick in 2018. Melanie Cleary is another woman who is a real driving force from Limerick, her daughter Eve died on a trolley as well and now with the most recent case of Aoife Johnston, a 16-year-old girl who died on a trolley after waiting 16 hours.

“It’s just not acceptable,” Noeleen said.

Noeleen says the main reason UHL is overcrowded is that too many people are presenting themselves to the hospital and the system can’t cope and there’s no other place in the region for these people to go.

“What we have been proposing as a solution is to reverse the closures that led to this mess.

“That’s to reopen the services in Ennis and Nenagh and to upgrade St John’s Hospital.

“We’re sick of repeating ourselves and we’re fed up with politicians talking around the issue and not actually addressing the seriousness of this,” Noeleen said.