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

I thank the Senator for the opportunity to address the House on this matter on behalf of the Minister for Health, Deputy Stephen Donnelly. I fully understand how important University Hospital of Limerick, UHL, is to the people of the mid-west and, indeed, that it is adequately resourced and staffed. In that regard, this Government, along with the Department of Health, is fully committed to improving patient services and having patient-centred care in Limerick. That commitment is reflected in the unprecedented level of funding that is being targeted right across the health service in budget 2022.

The UL Hospitals Group has reported that it is continuing to deal with record volumes of patients attending the UHL emergency department. In addition, waiting times for scheduled appointments and procedures remain significantly affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. While ongoing work continues to positively impact on waiting times and improve pathways to elective care, our acute hospitals, including UHL, continue to be impacted by operational challenges arising from Covid-19.

The Minister for Health fully acknowledges the distress overcrowded emergency departments and delays to elective treatment causes to patients, their families and front-line staff working in very challenging conditions, not just in Limerick but in hospitals throughout the country.

Despite the difficulties of the past two years, work is being done by the UL Hospitals Group to address these issues. Elective activity is reviewed daily in line with the hospital’s escalation plan, based on capacity and on the clinical need of patients. This includes elective patients coming in for time-critical investigations and procedures. UHL has also advised that it is undertaking additional ward rounds, accelerating discharges and identifying patients for transfer to model 2 hospitals. In addition, all patients who present to the emergency department with minor injuries at this time, such as suspected broken bones, cuts, bruises and sprains, are being redirected to the injury units in Ennis, Nenagh and St. John’s for treatment whenever clinically appropriate.

In recent years, there has been significant investment in UHL to address capacity issues, including a new emergency department that opened in 2017 and a new 60-bed modular ward block which provides modern, single-room inpatient accommodation with improved infection prevention and control capabilities as well as patient flow throughout the hospital. This follows the completion of two separate rapid-build projects which provided an additional 38 inpatient beds on site at UHL.

Further to that investment, Project Ireland 2040 includes provision for a 96-bed ward block at UHL. The evaluation of tenders is complete and the award of a works contract to the successful tenderer has been approved by the HSE board. The HSE will now be engaging with the successful bidder in the coming weeks with a view to the award of contract being finalised during the second quarter of 2022.

While acknowledging the difficulties faced by patients attending UHL, it is important to note that significant work is being done and every effort is being made to improve the situation at UHL. The Department will continue to closely monitor the situation in conjunction with the HSE.

It would be remiss of me not to acknowledge the front-line workers in the emergency department. They see the queues and acknowledge the issues. There were 121 trolleys occupied last Thursday, 60 of which were in the emergency department, and the other 61 were dispersed throughout the hospital to accommodate patients awaiting admission. That is no way that anybody with expertise wants to manage an emergency department. It must also be acknowledged that while there is substantial ongoing investment, there was chronic underinvestment for many years. This is not about numbers; it is about getting it right now.