The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation is calling for a laser-like focus from Government and the HSE to tackle overcrowding at University Hospital Limerick once and for all.
It comes following the publication today of a HIQA report of an unannounced inspection at the hospital which serves North Tipp, Clare and Limerick
Deputy General Secretary of the INMO Dr Edward Mathews said the report from the Health Information and Quality Authority paints a very bleak picture of what patients face on a daily basis and the conditions nurses are working in in Ireland’s most overcrowded hospital.
The report noted that on the day of inspection that the Emergency Department at UHL was over capacity by more than three times the recommended number of patients that can be treated there safely. The INMO say this comes as no surprise to them as their trolley figures regularly point out to the chaotic levels of overcrowding that occur in UHL every single day.
Dr Matthews says UHL has once again been found non-compliant when it comes to protecting the dignity and privacy of patients. He pointed out that this is not the fault of their members who are doing everything they can in a desperate situation.
He says INMO members in UHL are working in an environment that has normalised over 9,534 patients on trolleys so far this year saying they have had little to no reprieve from overcrowding.
