HSE gives UHL crisis team three more weeks to find overcrowding solution

They crisis team is to help devise actions to ease overcrowding in the emergency department at University Hospital Limerick. Picture: Dan Linehan

A crisis team which was given four weeks to find solutions to hospital overcrowding in Limerick has had it deadline extended by three weeks, according to the HSE.

The three-person team, led by retired consultant in emergency medicine Fergal Hickey, was announced by Health Minister Stephen Donnelly and HSE boss Bernard Gloster on April 30.

They said the team would, “over the next four weeks”, help devise actions to ease overcrowding in the emergency department at University Hospital Limerick.

However, the problem of overcrowding continues with 115 patients on trolleys on Tuesday unable to get a bed there, the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation said.

A HSE spokeswoman said the team is continuing its work to support the hospital as well as services across the region.

“The support team has recently met the CEO of the HSE to update him,  and a more comprehensive engagement is scheduled for three weeks’ time,” she said.

The HSE recognises, she said, that patients on trolleys is “a key safety concern” adding: "While challenged in a small number of sites, we are particularly so in Limerick at this time." 

The support team is working to reduce the immediate crisis and identify improvements which could support UHL, she added.

Among the challenges is the fact that the emergency department is so busy, patients on trolleys are regularly placed on other wards or units

On Tuesday, the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation counted 52 trolleys in the emergency department and a further 63 on other corridors. 

The HSE counts trolleys slightly differently, but indicated 110 between trolleys and surge beds in a near-reflection of organisation's data.

This escalation policy is applied everywhere, but is only intended for rare situations. 

The team also includes HSE national director Grace Rothwell, who was previously manager at University Hospital Waterford – a hospital which has slashed its trolley numbers in recent years. 

The third person is Orla Kavanagh, who is currently the director of nursing and  integration at Waterford.

Other measures previously announced include basing a GP in the emergency department. The hospital also welcomed announcements of plans for additional beds in recent days.

“We welcome the Government's plan to add 382 new adult inpatient beds in the Mid West region over the next seven years. This includes projects at UHL, Ennis, Nenagh, and St John’s, enhancing patient care in the region,” a spokesman said.

The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation data showed 562 people without a bed nationally,  including 62 at Cork University Hospital. There were 17 waiting for a bed at the Mercy University Hospital, and 30 at University Hospital Kerry.

Other Munster hospitals under pressure were Tipperary University Hospital in Clonmel, with four on trolleys, while Ennis Hospital had seven on trolleys — despite not having an emergency department. 

However, there were no patients on trolleys in Waterford.