Maurice Quinlivan
Question:586. Deputy Maurice Quinlivan asked the Minister for Health the number of patients who have had to wait on trolleys in University Hospital Limerick to date in 2018. [24254/18]
View answerTuesday, 12 June 2018
Questions (586)
Written answers
University Hospital Limerick (UHL) recorded a year-to-date total of 2408 patients waiting on trolleys in the first four months of 2018. This represents an increase of 13.7% or 290 more patients waiting on trolleys in the first four months of 2018 as compared to the same period last year.
Contributing to this increase is the fact that UHL recorded the second highest number of Emergency Department attendances in the first four months of 2018, up 11% , and a 7.9% rise in admissions in UHL in the same period.
A new Emergency Department was opened at UHL in May 2017. This €24 million development aimed to provide UHL with increased capacity for emergency medicine to meet the demands of population growth, changing service models and to improve efficiency targets.
In addition UHL has put in place a Performance Improvement Plan (PIP) setting out specific mitigating actions to improve patient flow and improve processes in the ED and UHL is now fully engaged with the National Patient Flow Improvement Project, as a pilot site, to further improve processes within the hospital.
As Minister for Health, I am committed to continuing the effort to address overcrowding in our Emergency Departments, and, in this context, I have asked my Department to work with the HSE to identify the location and mix of beds across the hospital system, which can be opened and staffed this year and into 2019 in order to improve preparedness for Winter 2018/2019. I understand this will include proposals in relation to UHL.