Committee hears how number of consultants in Midwest significantly lower than other regions An ‘unprecedented’ increase in healthcare capacity in University Hospital Limerick and ‘urgent reforms’ in how it is run is required to address the problems its emergency department (ED) faces, the Minister for Health has said. Speaking at an Oireachtas committee meeting to discuss a petition to reopen EDs in Ennis, Nenagh and St John’s Hospital in Limerick on Thursday, Stephen Donnelly defended his department’s allocation of resources to UHL, stating that ‘record levels’ of investment have been provided. While welcoming the recent announcement that HIQA will undertake a review of the Midwest to determine if a second ED should be opened in the region, he said that “we must remain focused on the need to fix the ED challenges at UHL in the near term.
“The answer to this lies in a dual approach, an unprecedented increase in healthcare capacity together with urgent reforms in how that care is delivered.” The Minister referred to figures which showed that, while nationwide the number of ED patients being placed on trolleys has fallen by around 12 per cent, in UHL this figure has increased by 40 per cent in the past year. To try to deal with the demand, he noted that the hospital’s workforce has increased by 1,200 or 43 per cent in the lifetime of the current Government.
UHL’s budget has also increased from €265 million in 2019 to €382 million this year. However.
