University Hospital Limerick overcrowding to be focus of new health services support team

A support team is being established to address the current pressures on health services in the Mid West region, particularly the overcrowding in University Hospital Limerick (UHL).

In a statement on Tuesday, Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly and HSE chief executive Bernard Gloster said the team will begin work immediately and over four weeks will help devise a number of actions designed “in particular to ease overcrowding and pressures” in UHL’s emergency department.

The team is made up of Grace Rothwell, the HSE’s national director of acute hospitals, Orla Kavanagh, director of nursing and integration at Waterford University Hospital and retired emergency medicine consultant Dr Fergal Hickey.

Mr Donnelly said he was “concerned” about the ongoing pressures on health services in the region.

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“We need to provide reassurance to the people of the Mid West region and address the very serious pressures on the services. While a number of interventions have been made, I have spoken to the Chief Executive of the need to address this situation immediately,” he said.

“The support team should deliver an improvement for patients quickly.”

[ Death of Aoife Johnston: What does her inquest tell us about the state of University Hospital Limerick? ]

Mr Gloster said he was conscious of the pressures in various hospitals, regarding the number of patients on trolleys awaiting admission.

“This is recognised by the HSE as a key safety concern and a variety of ongoing assurances are necessary in such situations. While challenged in a small number of sites we are particularly so in Limerick at this time,” he said.

“Patient flow involves the whole of the health service and we are using our own internal mechanisms to support the Mid West Region for the next number of weeks. This support team will now work with the Regional Executive Officer and her team in Community Healthcare, Public Health and UL Hospitals to manage patient flow and de-escalate the current pressures being experienced.”

UHL is routinely the most overcrowded Irish hospital, according to figures from the Irish Nurses’ and Midwives’ Organisation.

The announcement of the support team was made a number of days after an inquest into the death of 16-year-old Aoife Johnston returned a verdict of medical misadventure.

Ms Johnston waited over 15 hours to be given antibiotics to treat suspected sepsis. Ms Johnston was triaged as a Category 2 patient, and should have been seen by a doctor within 10 to 15 minutes, the inquest heard.

During the inquest, clinicians who worked there likened the conditions of the hospital during that time as like a “war zone” and a “death trap” due to the severe overcrowding. They said overcrowding remains an issue in the hospital.

John McNamara, presiding at Limerick Coroner’s Court, said there were systemic failures, missed opportunities and communication breakdowns at the hospital during the period in which Ms Johnston attended there before her death.

Responding to the announcement, a spokesperson for the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) said: “Any measures to alleviate the pressure on nurses and midwives in the Mid West region is to be welcomed.

“The INMO is looking forward to meeting this team at the first available opportunity to give our perspective and views on what can and should be implemented in the Mid West.

“The provision of safe and timely care must be the priority for this team.

“As stated previously by the INMO, the only measure of success for patients in the Mid West will be permanently reducing the number of patients on trolleys.”

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