University Hospital Limerick has reported a record breaking number of patients on trolleys today.
130 of the 563 people without a bed nationwide today are at the Mid-West facility which serves North Tipp, Limerick and Clare.
Shock, distress, and concern – these are just three of the ways the INMO and local campaign groups have described the overcrowding at UHL today.
The previous high of 126 was broken today at the facility with CUH the second highest on the list at 45.
Tanya McMahon is a member of Nenagh Needs its A and E campaign group – she says they saw this coming but it has peaked earlier than expected.
“We’re all in shock – it’s no surprise because of the way things have been going but completely shocked at this amount. This is unsafe – we can’t believe it. It’s scandalous, completely scandalous.”
INMO Assistant Director for Industrial Relations for the Midwest, Mary Fogarty believes that the curtailing of services may be the next step.
“I think from today the hospital will have to suspend all activities and just cope with the patients that are there or those who attend through the Emergency Department. So effectively that means that the hospital should introduce a Christmas Day type schedule where nothing else is operational at the hospital except what would normally happen on Christmas Day and I believe that that needs to continue.”
Intervention is being called on immediately in the interest of patient and staff safety.
