Richard O'Donoghue (Limerick County, Independent) | Oireachtas source

As the proposed next Taoiseach of this country, I want the Tánaiste to sort out the mess in University Hospital Limerick, UHL. He appointed the management of this hospital and he has a duty of care to the people of Limerick and the mid-west region to get it sorted. Many people who attend UHL do not have the option of private healthcare and are unable to commute to other counties for healthcare. When contacting our offices, constituents have said they would rather die than go to this hospital. That is how serious it is.

People of counties Limerick, Tipperary, Clare and north Kerry are at risk of serious injury due to the lack of proper care at UHL. Staff are leaving in their droves. According to Trolley Watch figures, UHL consistently has the highest number of patients on trolleys. Over five days in November, the number of people on trolleys were 70, 84, 70, 87 and 88, all of whom were vulnerable. Some 98 new beds were opened in December 2020 so that there would be no more people left waiting on trolleys. Where is the accountability?

Seemingly, when the expert from the Department of Health was put in place recently, there was no one on trolleys, which is amazing. I ask the management team to step down immediately and that a proper investigation be conducted, with prosecutions if needed. I understand 70 doctors made a protected disclosure to the HSE explaining the conditions in UHL. The Tánaiste is a doctor. He trained in healthcare and qualified as a doctor. I am pleading with him, as I have pleaded with other Ministers, to help us in UHL.

Jessica Sheedy, a young girl, died on 11 May 2018. I have permission to mention her name. The investigation is still ongoing, and is going around in circles, but we can now see that paperwork has been tampered with. I refer to the case of Savita Halappanavar in Galway. There were investigations into paperwork being changed in this case. I recently watched a documentary on a true case in America, I think, where a person was going around killing people in hospitals. They were caught and sentenced, as they should be.

We now have a serious problem in UHL. I said it on the first day I came into the Dáil that the management is wrong. For the safety of patients and the healthcare staff in the hospital, I am pleading with the Government to investigate this hospital and get the management to step down. The information is there and it is coming from all parties in this House. Different Deputies have mentioned it on more than one occasion. It has even been mentioned in the Seanad. We need the Government's help. Can it step up and help us, please?

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