Public asked to avoid UHL as it battles patient overcrowding and flu surge

David Raleigh

University Hospital Limerick (UHL) was the most overcrowded hospital nationally on Monday, with 138 patients languishing on trolleys while the hospital battled a perfect storm of high attendances and rampant flu.

The UL Hospitals Group (ULHG), which manages UHL, urged people “to consider alternative care options before attending the emergency department" as it “prioritised the sickest patients”.

69 patients languished on trolleys in bays and corridors along the Limerick emergency department, and a further 69 patients lay on trolleys, waiting for a bed on packed wards there.

There were 663 patients on trolleys in overcrowded hospitals nationally, including 55 at Cork University Hospital and 51 at University Hospital Galway.

The ULHG said it rostered “additional consultants” last weekend to assist with patient discharges and patient transfers to other hospitals and community settings in the region to try to ease pressure on services.

All surgeries at the hospital were cancelled, apart from “urgent cases”, due to “high levels of flu and other respiratory illnesses currently circulating in the Mid West”.

The group advised that “seriously ill” patents, the “injured”, and people “worried that their life is in danger” should attend the overcrowded ED for “priority” care.

Less acutely unwell patients faced “long waiting times in our ED and are asked to first consider our Injury Units, GPs, out-of-hours GP services and pharmacists before attending ED”, it stated.

Injury Units operated (8am-8m daily) at Ennis, Nenagh and St John’s Hospitals, treating patients with “broken bones, dislocations, sprains, strains, wounds, scalds and minor burns”, resulting in “shorter turnaround times compared to patients who attend our Emergency Department”.

The ULHG said its Medical Assessment Units (MAUs), located at Ennis Hospital and Nenagh Hospital, had expanded their operations to 16 hours a day, and were operating from 8am-midnight seven days a week providing “direct referral pathways for GPs to secure prompt assessment and treatment of medical patients”.

A mandatory face-mask policy for people attending UHL remained in place and the hospital asked that people expecting flu-like symptoms, to refrain from hospital visits.

The group apologised to patents experiencing “long waits for admission at UHL”.

A 96-bed block is under construction at the hospital with a further 96 bed block planned.