‘Unacceptable and dangerous’: Limerick hospital sets overcrowding record with 150 waiting for beds

University Hospital Limerick has set a new record for overcrowding, according to a nursing union, with 150 patients waiting for admission on Wednesday.

The hospital had an unprecedented 65 patients on trolleys in its emergency department and 85 more on trolleys on wards on Wednesday morning, according to the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation’s (INMO) Trolley Watch count.

The INMO said this made it the worst day for overcrowding in an individual hospital since it began the count in 2006.

Nationally, there were 710 patients waiting for admission to hospital on Wednesday, including 60 at Cork University Hospital.

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This is the third time in the last two weeks that UHL has broken its own record for the number of people awaiting a bed. Since the beginning of January, some 2,573 patients have been admitted to the hospital without a bed, according to the INMO.

“These patients, no matter what their condition is, are placed on trolleys in all available spaces, on public corridors of the hospital, on ward corridors and in the emergency department leading to a completely congested hospital with no patient movement to access an in-patient bed,” said INMO assistant director of industrial relations for the Midwest and West, Mary Fogarty.

“The levels of persistent overcrowding are having a very damaging impact on the morale of the nursing staff in the hospital who are trying their best to provide safe patient care in an extremely trying environment.

“INMO members have repeatedly highlighted the conditions as unacceptable and dangerous for patients. When overcrowding is out of control it is simply impossible to maintain patient safety and dignity.”

Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly said he could not stand over the figures and there needed to be “serious change” in the hospital. UHL has received more investment than any other hospital, including over 1,000 extra staff and almost 200 additional beds. The hospital has the second lowest rate of discharging patients at weekends, he pointed out.

The Limerick hospital gained a new 96-bed block in 2022 and a second one is under construction.

Hospital management maintains UHL is underfunded, while local campaigners have called for the reopening of emergency departments at smaller hospitals in the region, which were closed over a decade ago.

“The HSE and UHL Hospital Group must take targeted measures immediately to protect working nurses in these departments and wards,” Ms Fogarty said. “Reassuring words are not enough, describing how bad it is on the Dooradoyle campus is not enough, we need to see lasting measures to alleviate the constant levels of overcrowding.

“The people of the Midwest, the nursing staff and their healthcare colleagues must be supported by patient management measures that have been adopted successfully in other locations such as University Hospital Waterford, investment in long term care and step-down facilities must be prioritised.

“HSE management and policymakers must accept that overcrowding at this level is unfortunately extremely dangerous and detrimental for some patients. Elective and emergency cannot be provided in chaotic overcrowded circumstances. Decisions must be made that keep patients safe and protect staff from ever increasing exposure to outpouring of public frustration and anger.”

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