Maurice Quinlivan (Limerick City, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

It is agreed. I thank the Chairman for allowing me to attend this meeting. I agree with all of those recommendations but I have a further request. The emergency department at University Hospital Limerick, UHL, is consistently the most overcrowded in the State and is not fit for purpose. The report of a Health Information and Quality Authority, HIQA, inspection in March of this year was damning. The hospital was assessed under four distinct categories and the results were absolutely appalling. Of the four categories, UHL was found to be non-compliant in three and only partially compliant in the fourth. This review confirmed what most of us already knew, which is that the emergency department is not fit for purpose. It is too small and is understaffed. In 2021, there were 76,473 presentations at UHL where there are only 530 beds. By comparison, St. James's Hospital, which has 698 inpatient beds, had an attendance of 48,397. To bring UHL up to the average bed capacity across the State would require an additional 200 beds. I also understand, as per a recent response to a parliamentary question, that there are 68 non-consultant hospital doctor, NCHD, vacancies at UHL.

In that context, I ask the Chairman to include a recommendation that this committee invite the Minister for Health to a meeting to discuss the emergency department at University Hospital Limerick. The plan is to build a 96-bed unit on the site but it has been confirmed in response to a number of parliamentary questions that the unit will only have capacity for 48 beds. Today there were 45 people on trolleys and while that is an appalling number, it is actually one of the lowest figures this year. On more than 15 days this year, over 100 people were on trolleys in University Hospital Limerick. Statistics show, as verified by the petitioner, that those waiting over a certain number of hours in emergency departments are patients who require a hospital bed. The plan of the HSE and the management of UHL to deal with this issue is not sufficient. A response from the Minister is required and I ask the Chairman to invite him before this committee.