Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I again state that the Government, along with the Department of Health, remains fully committed to improving services in Limerick and throughout the country. Significant efforts are being made to ensure the issues, such as overcrowding in the emergency department and delays for elective care at UHL, are being addressed as a matter of priority. As I noted, following the Minister, Deputy Donnelly's, intervention earlier this year, the performance management improvement unit of the HSE immediately engaged with the hospital group and the CEO under the HSE performance accountability framework. This is to provide the intensive support needed to ensure the necessary improvements in services for the region are achieved. These measures include a renewed focus on hospital avoidance, patient flow and discharge planning, and regular and frequent assessment of patients with long stays in hospital. This work, along with the broader efforts and the considerable funding made available through the waiting list action plan, will provide significant assistance in addressing capacity issues at UHL and across the hospital group.

The Government is fully aware of the impact overcrowding and hospital capacity issues have on patients and their families in the mid-west. I assure the House that intensive efforts are under way to address the difficulties currently facing UHL, and those efforts will proceed as long as required. The Department of Health will continue to work with the HSE to ensure support for the improvement of services for all patients attending the hospital.

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