'It just sounds like it’s out of control': Fears raised as UHL still under pressure

INMO counted 86 people on trolleys at University Hospital Limerick and five in Ennis on Tuesday

Senator Dee Ryan said: 'We are already very worried about this winter. We have the highest level of patients on trolleys across the country.' Picture: iStock

Questions are being asked about plans to reduce winter hospital overcrowding in Limerick in the wake of delays to a review of emergency services.

There were 86 people on trolleys at University Hospital Limerick (UHL) and five in Ennis on Tuesday, according to the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation. Separate HSE data showed five people waiting longer than 24 hours for a bed.

The Midwest Hospital Campaign, which has spent years calling for reforms, includes Marie McMahon from Ennistymon in Co Clare.

“You feel isolated in a way, who is advocating for us,” she said. “We are completely confused by all this, our area has had to go through an ordeal that no other area had to go through to get better healthcare.”

She pointed out hundreds of patients waited on trollies last month.

“It just sounds like it’s out of control,” she said, citing an apparent case where a patient who was in UHL on a trolley for two days was moved to a private nursing home, and two days later ended up in Ennis on a trolley.

Hiqa, which is carrying out the review, said the delay is caused by waiting on data from the Economic and Social Research Institute.

In Nenagh, Independent councillor Seamus Morris called on TDs to speak out.

“Why do they need another report, when Justice Frank Clarke’s report on the death of Aoife Johnston should have been enough for anyone to act,” he said.

He welcomed construction at UHL but added that the campus is already so busy that some staff and patients are forced to park in nearby housing estates.

“I had to do it myself a few months ago,” he said.

Concerns were raised in the Seanad by Fianna Fáil senator Dee Ryan.

“However, they are not helping in the here and now. We are already very worried about this winter. We have the highest level of patients on trolleys across the country,” she said.

She stressed that many patients are elderly.

“If an elderly loved one in my family has a slip or a trip and has to go into the emergency department, he or she will be facing a much longer wait, with less frequent access to care, than any other person in the country,” said Ms Ryan.

“That is simply not fair. The people of Limerick and the mid-west are very worried.

“What actions is the minister preparing for this winter, as we face into another seasonal surge in illness and as we anxiously anticipate higher than ever trolley numbers?”