Michael McNamara (Clare, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I again raise the issue of University Hospital Limerick, UHL. On 15 March, HIQA visited UHL to measure its compliance with four key standards. It failed three and was only partially compliant with the fourth. The report found that there was inadequate capacity and pointed to the fact that it was the only model 4 hospital and there were no model 3 hospitals in the region. It also found that there was inadequate management of existing capacity, in particular, human resources. That is just one day. On every day, UHL is overcrowded. On every day, it poses a danger to the patients it is supposed to serve. On every day, people are afraid to go to the emergency department. People are afraid that frail family members will be brought by ambulance to the department. They beg ambulance drivers to bring them to another facility. I have lived that fear, as have many families right across the constituency. As Head of Government of this State, will the Taoiseach take responsibility for remedying this into his Department to ensure it is remedied, and if not, what will be done by the Government to remedy the situation?

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