Written answers

Monday, 9 September 2024

Department of Health

Departmental Meetings

Photo of Alan KellyAlan Kelly (Tipperary, Labour)
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1630.To ask the Minister for Health the dates, times and attendees of any meetings he and or his officials and or his advisers have had in relation to UHL in 2023 and to date in 2024.[34029/24]

Photo of Alan KellyAlan Kelly (Tipperary, Labour)
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1647.To ask the Minister for Health the dates, times and attendees of any meetings he and or his officials and advisers have had in relation to University Hospital Limerick since 1 June 2023.[34093/24]

Photo of Stephen DonnellyStephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 1630 and 1647 together.

The Government remains fully committed to improving services across the Mid West region. I have engaged extensively with the University of Limerick Hospitals Group (ULHG) and the HSE regarding the challenges currently being experienced, particularly in University Hospital Limerick (UHL).

On 4th April 2024, I visited UHL and met with management, including the Regional Executive Officer (REO) Sandra Broderick, the Health Service Executive (HSE) CEO Bernard Gloster, as well as consultants and other clinical leaders. Following that visit I announced a package of measures to address overcrowding at UHL and to deescalate the pressure experienced in the Emergency Department. These wide-ranging measures addressed capacity and reform of the health system in the Mid West Region and have been supported by ongoing Government investment in the Hospital Group.

Following the package of reforms announced on the 30 April, I announced the appointment of an expert team to support reform and address the pressures on health services in the Mid West region. This team comprised:

  • Ms Grace Rothwell, HSE National Director;
  • Ms Orla Kavanagh, Director of Nursing and Integration at Waterford University Hospital; and
  • Retired Emergency Medicine Consultant Dr Fergal Hickey.
This expert team made a set of recommendations in June 2024, which included a full ‘reset’ of the UHL site in Summer 2024 to reduce overcrowding with a gradual resumption of scheduled and elective services thereafter.

This reform package and engagement has been supported by ongoing Government investment in the Mid West region.

  • University Hospital Limerick’s Budget has increased by 59%, an additional €158 million, since 2019 (from €265 in 2019 to €423 million in 2023)
  • Investment in the hospitals in the region has increased by 58%, an additional €213 million, from €369 million in 2019 to €582 million in 2023.
  • There are 1,167 more Whole Time Equivalent staff at the hospital since 2019 – an increase from 2,814 to 3,981 in July 2024.
  • This includes 159 more doctors, 53 more consultants, 425 more nurses and midwives, as well as 111 more health and social care professionals. This also includes additional emergency consultants, NCHDs and nurses in the Emergency Department.
  • At the end of July 2024 there were a total of 5,766 WTE staff employed across the hospitals in the region, representing an increase of 1,620 since December 2019.
Officials in my Department in the Acute Hospital, Unscheduled Care and Social Care Divisions and from the National Patient Safety Office are in regular and ongoing contact with HSE colleagues in relation to UHL.

The Acute Hospitals Oversight and Performance Division of the Department of Health have oversight of all hospital groups, including ULHG. The Unit with responsibility for ULHG (the Maternity and Gynaecology Policy Unit) scheduled an MS Teams meeting, attended by the Unit Principal Officer and two Assistant Principal Officers, on Friday 12th April to discuss oversight of the reform package. Every Tuesday the Unit hold an in-person team meeting where ULHG is a standing item on the agenda. The oversight of UHL involves routine daily business interactions primarily conducted through email, telephone, Microsoft Teams, and in-person conversations to manage representations, parliamentary business, and ad hoc queries.

During the period between mid-December 2023 and mid-March 2024, department officials attended HSE daily meetings (to mid-February) followed by weekly meetings (to mid-March), chaired by the HSE CEO, discussing the national system situation. UHL formed part of these discussions. Pulse meetings, chaired by the Department of Health with HSE representatives in attendance, also took place fortnightly – and on some occasions, weekly – during this period. As part of the HSE performance update on the national system in these meetings, UHL was discussed.

The following link contains further details of meetings held by myself, my advisers and my officials in the specified timeframe, in tabular form. In these meetings, as part of the HSE performance update on the national system, UHL was discussed.

">Departmental Meetings

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