Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will deal with the specific issues relating to Limerick in a minute, but it is important to give a broader picture nationally of what is happening with regard to trolley figures. The trolley numbers for the first quarter of this year are the best for five years, so it is important we deal with the numbers and the facts. I know there are some hospitals under severe pressure and staff under pressure, and no one wants to minimise or belittle that strain. It is there. It was there earlier this week in Cork and yesterday in Limerick and Galway, which are under pressure. The hospitals are responding to this, but the overall trolley numbers are down and are lower than at any point in the past five years. It is important to recognise progress. This reduction in the numbers is due to our investing in more capacity. We are trying to streamline management systems in hospitals in order to ensure that we can deal, in particular, with capacity at this pressurised time of year as we come through the winter and see outbreaks of influenza and so on and in the aftermath of a strike action, which also caused some pressures. I am not apportioning any blame in this regard; I am just outlining the reality. That said, there are and have been particular issues in the past 24 hours in Limerick.

The Deputy specifically mentioned ward 1A. The HSE has informed me that the closure of a 17-bed medical short-stay unit, ward 1A, at University Hospital Limerick will facilitate the completion of works on a new fracture unit there. The closure is in accordance with the plans to redesignate the space occupied by the old emergency department at the hospital. University Limerick hospital group has advised that staff were fully involved in this process, with the various teams presenting business cases on optional use of the old emergency department. The hospital group has advised that the new fracture clinic will have a specific benefit for patients in reducing waiting times and improving patient experience. We are trying to invest in new facilities at the same time as trying to manage current pressures, and we must do both. We cannot simply abandon plans to invest in increasing capacity and improved efficiency in an effort to try to deal with the immediacy of what is a very pressurised situation at University Hospital Limerick. The hospital group advises that the closure of these 17 beds has been offset by the opening of 22 beds elsewhere in the hospital in recent weeks, including a 12-bed surgical short-stay unit and three additional cardiology beds. It is widely agreed, however, that a key part of the solution for Limerick is additional beds. The capital allocation for 2019 of €2 million has been granted in recent weeks to facilitate the completion of enabling works for the 60-bed modular ward, to which I also referred on Tuesday.

See this speech in context