Staff 'overwhelmed' as Limerick hospital treats highest number of Covid patients

Claims that some patients in the Limerick ED were 'waiting over 100 hours for a bed'

Overcrowding at University Hospital Limerick, which has 142 confirmed cases of Covid-19.

Staff at University Hospital Limerick (UHL) are "overwhelmed" by increasing Covid-19 cases.

On Thursday, UHL had the most confirmed cases (142) of any hospital in the country, followed by Cork University Hospital (139), Galway University Hospital (127), St Vincent’s Hospital, Dublin, (123), and Drogheda hospital (110).

Three critical care beds were available at UHL today. Twelve seriously ill Covid-19 patients were being treated at the 28-bed Critical Care Unit.

There were just five general beds available at the Limerick hospital, according to latest figures published by the HSE.

UHL has been asked for comment on claims by informed sources that some patients in the Limerick ED were “waiting over 100 hours for a bed”.

“The last two weeks it has gone ballistic with the number of Covid patients coming in. We are down staff and there are areas of the hospital full of Covid patients,” said the source.

We have doubled down on numbers in corridors, they are on top of one another, it’s impossible to maintain social distancing in the ED, and staff are demoralised and overwhelmed.” 

Almost 600 staff across the UL Hospitals Group are sidelined by the virus and while 2,400 staff across the group’s UHL, Ennis Hospital and University Limerick Maternity Hospital have received the first of two vaccine doses, a similar number of the group’s staff at Nenagh Hospital, St John’s Hospital and Croom Orthopaedic Hospital have not.

1733 #covid19ireland patients in hospitals last night - fell slightly over the day but still stubbornly high and likely to rise as new cases from last two weeks require admission.

308 ICU beds, incl 174 Covid; 29 free.

7 free in Dublin, 3 Waterford, 2 Limerick, 2 Galway, 1 Cork pic.twitter.com/DfPJ72a86Z

— Gavan Reilly (@gavreilly) January 14, 2021

“Ultimately, the vaccine will be rolled out across all hospitals in UL Hospitals Group. Currently, we are prioritising staff in intensive care and high dependency units, in our emergency care and Covid admission pathways, and on our Covid-positive wards, so that we can continue managing our emergency services,” said a UL Hospitals spokesperson.

“We are currently issuing as much vaccine as possible, based on availability of vaccine and clinical prioritisation. 

All staff will be offered the vaccine regardless of employment status or grade. This includes temporary staff, agency staff and contractors and students on clinical placements. 

“We look forward to rolling out the vaccine programme to the other sites in UL Hospitals Group at Nenagh Hospital, St John’s Hospital and Croom Orthopaedic Hospital, as soon as possible and as deliveries of the vaccine accelerate,” they added.

More than 4,000 confirmed cases of Covid-19 have been recorded in Limerick over the past two weeks, including 165 new cases announced by Nphet last night.

A UL Hospitals spokesperson confirmed there were “a total of 574 staff across UL Hospitals Group unavailable for work due to Covid-19, the majority of staff are based at University Hospital Limerick, where there were 201 nurses and heathcare attendants unavailable for work”.

“The group has a critical surge plan in place which it can put into effect if required. UHL is the only hospital in the group [in the mid west region] with critical care capacity,” they added.