Call for immediate intervention to tackle record overcrowding at UHL

University Hospital Limerick. Photo:© P Flynn

The HSE and Health Minister are being asked to urgently intervene in the overcrowding situation at University Hospital Limerick.

For the second day in a row, the INMO has recorded a record-breaking number of patients on trolleys at UHL.

There are 111 people waiting for a bed there this afternoon, making up one-fifth of the national total of 549.

The INMO is calling for direct intervention from the HSE, Health Minister and HIQA to investigate the situation.

Mary Fogarty, the union’s assistant director of industrial relations, says the situation is out of control.

“We have staff completely demoralised who are trying to provide adequate care – it’s impossible.

“They advise us that the hospital is chaotic, that the system is out of control.

“We have written to HIQA again yesterday seeking that they would investigate the situation at the hospital and we have also written to the Minister for Health seeking direct intervention to undertake a full review of the management of patients at University Hospital Limerick.”