Dáil debates

Thursday, 29 April 2021

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation

 

12:55 pm

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

There is concern in my constituency about the overcrowding in University Hospital Limerick. I have raised the issue countless times in this Chamber and the previous Dáil and communicated with the Ministers, yet nothing seems to have been done. University Hospital Limerick, which serves the mid-west region and is located in Limerick city, averages 1,000 patients per month lingering on trolleys, which is unacceptable in the middle of a pandemic. The issue has escalated to such proportions that the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation, INMO, has called for an investigation into it. Staff are at their wits' end and the INMO has raised concerns that, while there has been significant recruitment and 100 new acute beds have been opened, the hospital still faces runaway overcrowding. This is unacceptable and has to stop. It is not good enough for the patients and staff. A 96-bed unit was committed to, but only half of those will be new beds. The delivery of all 96 needs to be expedited.

Day after day, the figures show that University Hospital Limerick remains the most overcrowded hospital in the State. The INMO wants to know what is going wrong, as do I.

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