Deterioration of Mid-West healthcare situation 'beyond comprehension', TD says

Ottoline Spearman

A Tipperary TD has said it is "beyond comprehension" how the healthcare situation in the Mid-West region has been allowed to deteriorate for years.

Speaking on Newstalk, Labour TD Alan Kelly said the region is in urgent need of additional healthcare facilities:

"We as a community in the Mid-West have been discriminated for 20 years. We need another A&E. We need another Model 3 hospital in the region.

"It is absolutely imperative. It is beyond my comprehension how it cannot be recommended."

This comes after Hiqa released a new report suggesting three solutions to the issue of overcrowding in University Hospital Limerick.

University Hospital Limerick is renowned for its overcrowding, with 147 patients without beds on Monday.

The ED and wards at UHL are consistently the most overcrowded in the country, with demand from a catchment of over 400,000 that includes all of Limerick and Clare, north Tipperary, and parts of North Cork and north Kerry.

The HSE announced on Monday that the opening of a newly constructed 96-bed block at University Hospital Limerick (UHL) is “imminent”, as near-record patient overcrowding continues to plague the hospital.

The Health Minister said the department is prioritising providing more in-patient beds at UHL rather than a new hospital, but has not ruled it out.