Only seven fulltime or whole-time equivalent healthcare professional positions were created in Acute Services at University Hospital Limerick in 2022.
This is despite the hospital – which covers North Tipperary – being one of the most overcrowded facilities in the country last year.
HSE figures show 2,254 people were working in UHL at the end of 2022 – this is an increase of just 7 in twelve months. There was a reduction of 17 in the number of Registrars based at the Dooradoyle facility during that period.
UHL has been the most overcrowded hospital in the country for the past seven years, with a record 18,028 patients waiting on trolleys and on wards in 2022.
Nenagh Hospital – which is also part of the UL group of hospitals – saw its staff levels increase by 16 to 173 by the end of 2022.
The HSE figures also show that University Maternity Hospital in Limerick was one of only five hospitals across the country that saw a reduction in acute service staff numbers.
Meanwhile Tipperary University Hospital in Clonmel had a workforce of 698 which was up by 18 on 2021. These included 17 in nursing and midwifery.
The figures were released to Clare TD Michael McNamara in response to a Parliamentary Question.
