Limerick Hospital needs double amount of A&E consultants, says Donnelly 

Health Minister Stephen Donnelly said home care supports was an important part of dealing with the ongoing crisis at UHL. File picture: Dan Linehan

University Hospital Limerick probably needs to double the number of Emergency Department consultants to help address its overcrowding crisis, Health Minister Stephen Donnelly has told the Irish Examiner.

“They don’t have sufficient resources within the emergency department. It’s a relatively new ED but they don’t have sufficient staff. They have eight emergency medicine consultants, they should probably have about twice that. Covid has taken over a very substantial area of the new department so areas within the ED that would normally be used to treat patients have had to be set aside,” he said.

Mr Donnelly said: “There are a lot of reasons for what’s happening in Limerick at the moment. Partly, it’s around pre-admission so there are people coming to the ED who may be better served going to one of the minor injury units for example.

Home care supports

The minister agreed home care supports was an important part of dealing with the ongoing crisis at UHL. “There’s a big issue in terms of discharge. What I want to make sure is are the home care packages available? Are the health and social care professionals available? Have we enough of them to be able to help created the discharge packages that are required? Are we fully utilising the other local hospitals to discharge to as well?"

The minister said he contacted the HSE about two weeks ago and ordered a specialist team to go in to UHL.

“I want to know everything that UHL needs in order to be able move patients through the hospital. Bring them in quickly, get them the care they need and then get them discharged in an appropriate care setting so there’s no simple answer. They’re looking at the entire patient flow,” he told this newspaper.

Mr Donnelly said similar teams previously sent in to CUH and Waterford Hospital were successful. “The Emergency Department in Waterford was the worst performing in the country. It’s now the best performing in the country. So that’s the kind of turn-around I want to see,” he said.

Meanwhile, in relation to Friday’s Progressing Disabilities Services protest in Cork, Enniscorthy and Dublin, Mr Donnelly insisted Disabilities Minister Anne Rabbitte would have access to HSE staff to resolve concerns about how services for children are being delivered. 

“There’s no question of Minister Rabbitte not being able to access HSE staff. I contacted the HSE directly and said that has to happen,” he told this newspaper.