Violet-Anne Wynne (Clare, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I have a number of things I want to refer to and questions as well, so I will be as quick as I can. I also hope to get the breakdown of the staffing levels or the staffing that has been introduced in Ennis. I note the Minister pointed to 22% and mentioned to Deputy McNamara that it would be sourced. I would like to get hold of that data myself.

In respect of the injury units, in Ennis, solely through a response to a parliamentary question I can see that attendance at Ennis injury unit has increased since 2019 by 32%, which is significant and positive. It was in respect of extending the hours of the medical assessment units, MAUs, and the local injury units, LIUs. The Minister has committed to the 24-7 MAUs and he might touch on where we are on that because it is a phased thing where it is being extended to 10 p.m., and then to midnight and then extending it even further to 24-7. I had hoped that would be extended to LIUs as well, in light of the presentations to the injury unit and Ennis and how they have been increasing year on year.

To touch on the comments the Minister made on the expert review or inquest by Mr. Justice Clarke, I appreciate that the Minister hopes to have that review to hand and to have looked at it before working on the terms of reference. Some have said that it was supposed to be with the Minister by 20 May. I remember hearing about the end of May. I raised it on the Order of Business this week with the Taoiseach in the hope of getting statements on the floor of the Chamber about the grossly overcrowded numbers seen on a daily basis in UHL, as well as about the embargo. He said he wanted to wait until the review from Mr. Justice Clarke has been published. That is going to delay a number of processes for us.

On the terms of reference, are we even looking at having a draft in place until such time as the review has been completed? The Minister had mentioned a number of weeks. Does he have a definitive timeline as to when he hopes to have that review published? In respect of the clinical advice that had been received or given thus, I think it was Dr. Colm Henry who provided that and he provided that note to me and maybe others who had raised this issue with the Minister. Specifically, I note it was received in December 2023 and it stated it would not be safe to reopen Ennis. I should point out that I do not believe any campaign group or Deputy has called for that. I definitely have not been calling for an emergency department to be opened in Ennis as it is now. It was an upgrade that was being called for.

The information relied on the 2009 HIQA report into Ennis but it failed to take into consideration the 2022 HIQA report that identified the absence of a model 3 hospital in the mid-west as a major contributory factor to the overcrowding. In response to that report, the CEO of University Limerick Hospitals Group committed to exploring the option of a model 3 hospital for the region. Was that work done? Where are we with that? I think that was critical and maybe that should have been actioned at that point.

While I am conscious of my time, in respect of the information that came out yesterday, 239 patients were reported to have died on trolleys in UHL over the past five years. That figure is 45 higher than the next hospital, University Hospital Galway, with 195. The Minister has mentioned capacity and reform and this is something I have heard in recent months, that is, that UHL is an outlier but also around reforms not being implemented thus far. In respect of the really sad case of Aoife Johnston, it was mentioned that there was rostering issues that the Minister had highlighted with the hospital that were not implemented on that specific weekend after they had been advised to do so.

There is a clear issue with management. I respect that the Minister has brought in a task force but for those who have been impacted in particular, when will there be accountability for clear management issues and leadership issues within UHL in recent years? I think my time is up.