Pharmacist says there was no communication from HSE on assistance needed at UHL

Vivienne Clarke

A Limerick pharmacist has told of how the first knowledge general practitioners and pharmacies had of a request from the HSE for assistance in easing pressure on University Hospital Limerick was through the media.

There was no communication directly from the HSE Niall O’Sullivan told RTÉ radio’s Morning Ireland.

“The first we heard of it was through the media on RTÉ news. And unfortunately, that's quite a common occurrence. So the hospital group are asking for both GPs and pharmacies to step up and assist them with this issue. But there was no communication from the HSE to say, ‘listen, can we have your assistance or help here?’

“We're reading it in the news. And unfortunately with the HSE, this is a common occurrence that you wake up in the morning, something has been announced and you're the last ones to hear.

"The phone rings first thing in the morning as soon as you open your doors. Asking you the question that that you actually don't have the answer to yet.”

Lahinch GP Dr Michael Kelleher added that capacity remained a key issue. There was a need for more beds, more step down options and more community services to support step down services.

"General practice provided preventative care which could help reduce the need for hospital visits, but there were limits to the level of support that general practice could offer", he warned.

“I think the issue is that we have a rising population and an aging population, and that inevitably is going to place continuing demand for what used to be a winter surge in demand. And in the hospital sector that is now an all year round demand. And that's not going to change because our population is rising and aging.

"We'll have four times as many people over 85, in under 25 years. And we simply have to build up the capacity to cope with that. In the short term, we're going to have lots of issues like are occurring in Limerick currently.”

Dr Kelleher said that everyone was aware of the pressure on emergency rooms in hospitals and the crowding issues. “GPs make every effort to keep people out of hospital and only refer appropriately. So the majority of the people that we would be sending to hospital for admission would be frail elders, where there isn't an option to keep them in the community are very young, ill children.”

Mr O’Sullivan added that he had personal experience of the pressures on UHL recently when one of his sons fractured his elbow and ended up on a trolley for two days awaiting an operation to put in screws and a plate.

Dr Kelleher said that elective care options would reduce pressure on existing emergency care services. The current crisis in UHL “should not be viewed in isolation”.

“It's the most visible part of an interlocking health service. You have the emergency rooms as the entrance to the hospitals, but then you have capacity issues and hospital capacities and step down and capacity issues in the community. And you have to build out all of them.”