Joe Carey (Clare, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for selecting this important issue for discussion. On 21 April, the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation, INMO, recorded a figure of 126 patients on trolleys awaiting admission at University Hospital Limerick, UHL. That was the highest number of patients on trolleys ever recorded at any hospital in Ireland. Of the patients, 65 were in the emergency department, with the remaining 61 in ward overflow areas. The number was triple the next-highest figure on the day, recorded at St. Luke's General Hospital, Kilkenny, where 40 people were awaiting admission. Today, the INMO recorded a figure of 113 people on trolleys. Last January, a figure of 111 people was recorded. That was a record at the time. There is a serious bed capacity shortfall in the mid-west region. We simply do not have enough beds and the pressures associated with Covid-19 have exacerbated the problem. Figures of 126, 113 or 111 patients awaiting admission were never previously recorded.

In the past two years, 98 additional new beds were provided at UHL. In the past decade, more than €100 million has been invested by successive Governments in delivering key infrastructural projects at the hospital. In 2015, a €40 million critical care block providing 12 intensive care beds, a 16-bed high dependency unit, a 16-bed acute cardiac care unit, a step-down cardiac facility and a day cardiology unit was delivered. In 2015, a €24 million state-of-the-art accident and emergency unit was opened. Early in 2020, a €21 million 60-bed modular unit came into use. Funding of €43 million was recently approved by the board of the HSE to deliver 96 new beds at UHL and it is anticipated construction will commence next year.

Despite the provision of this extra capacity and the recruiting and funding of additional consultants, doctors, nurses and medical staff, UHL still experiences the worst overcrowding of any hospital in the State. These overcrowded conditions are dangerous for patients, as well as the doctors, nurses and staff who work extremely hard in the most challenging of environments. There is a need for a collective and immediate response from the Government and the HSE to take control of this extremely serious situation. There is a need to immediately bring into place a short-term, medium-term and long-term solution to this serious issue. HIQA carried out an unannounced visit to UHL in recent weeks and its report is awaited.

To the credit of the Minister, Deputy Donnelly, he visited Limerick last February and spent two days engaging with patients, medical personnel and the executive management team. I understand he received a presentation from hospital management in respect of the need to provide an elective-only hospital in the region. I strongly support the proposal to build an elective-only hospital to cater for patients outside of UHL. It is my understanding that UHL has had discussions in the past year with the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, UPMC, which has 40 hospitals globally, including five sites in Ireland. An elective-only hospital needs to be prioritised for the mid west ahead of any other region because of the shortage of beds in the system. I understand that 83% of patients in UHL are there for emergency care, while the remaining 17% require elective procedures.

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