Limerick hospital group facing €18.5m overrun

Increased spending on agency staff and the provision of 41 extra acute beds in Limerick hospitals have been cited as some of the main factors contributing to a €18.5m overspend in a Mid-West group of hospitals.

The latest performance figures from the HSE show that hospital waiting lists are increasing and that Limerick’s University Hospitals have incurred a net expenditure of €155m at the end of July, which is a 5.6% increase on last year.

UL Hospitals operates as a single group and includes hospitals across six sites: University Hospital Limerick, University Maternity Hospital, Croom Hospital, Ennis Hospital, Nenagh Hospital and St John’s Hospital Limerick.