Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 29 February 2024
22. Deputy David Cullinane asked the Minister for Health if he will report on reviews into serious patient safety incidents at University Hospital Limerick's emergency department; the number of such incidents; his plans to deliver safe capacity at the hospital; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9682/24]
View answerThe HSE's Incident Management Framework is applied to managing and reviewing incidents. The Framework’s focus is on understanding how and why an incident occurred. This approach to incident management is cognisant of the needs of those affected. It also supports services to learn and improve safety.
The Framework describes a Category 1 incident as a clinical and non-clinical incident. They are rated as major or extreme on the HSE’s Risk Impact Table.
Incident data is reported on the National Incident Management System. Limerick University Hospital Emergency Department reported 19 Category 1 incidents from January 1st 2019 to December 31st 2023. Such incidents are reported in other Emergency Departments. This hospital is not an outlier in terms of this number when compared to other sites.
I have provided significant investment to increase capacity and staffing in the region. Total staffing increased at University Hospital Limerick by over 37% since December 2019.
Since 2019 the budget for this hospital increased by 45%. We are also investing in additional bed capacity in the Midwest. We are building two new 96-bed inpatient blocks. This is in addition to 98 beds brought online since 2020.
150 additional beds have been opened in the Hospital Group since 2020. 98 of these new beds are in University Hospital Limerick.
