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Gnáthamharc

Hospital Overcrowding

Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 15 May 2019

Wednesday, 15 May 2019

Ceisteanna (39)

Niall Collins

Ceist:

39. Deputy Niall Collins asked the Minister for Health the reason for the significant overcrowding in the emergency department in University Hospital Limerick during April 2019 [20826/19]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Freagraí scríofa

The Winter Plan 2018/19, recognising the multiple factors across the health service that impact on Emergency Department performance, included a range of measures to support patients accessing services in the community and in hospitals. Planning for Winter 2019/20 has already commenced, with a review of performance over the Winter Period currently underway to ensure that the lessons learned from this year inform future plans.

With regard to University Hospital Limerick (UHL), for the first quarter of 2019, in comparison to 2018, the number of patients attending the Emergency Department increased by 2.5% and the number of patients admitted decreased by 7%. The number of patients recorded on trolleys at 8am increased by 17.9% in UHL, despite a national decrease of 12.3% in this period.

Provisional TrolleyGAR data highlights that the number of patients waiting on trolleys in UHL increased from 723 in April 2018 to 862 in April 2019.

The Emergency Department in UHL is one of the busiest in the country, with the number of patients attending growing year on year. UHL was identified as one of the 9 sites requiring additional investment, focus and support as part of this year's Winter Plan. The problem of overcrowding in hospitals requires a full-system, patient-focused response. Recognising this, in the Winter Plan, the HSE sought to maximise the use of existing resources across hospital groups and CHOs and to target additional investment at both hospital and community services and supports.

Since 2017, an additional 25 beds have opened in UHL, including 8 as part of this year's Winter Plan.

A capital budget of €19.5 million has been approved for the provision of a modular 60-bed inpatient ward block at UHL, with funding of €10 million allocated in 2019. Enabling works commenced in March 2019, and the HSE advise that the main works are expected to start at the end of May 2019.

In addition, the National Development Plan includes a 96-bed replacement ward block in Limerick and capital funding was provided in 2018 to progress the design phase of this project.

Finally, the HSE have advised that the review of the Winter Plan currently underway will include an independent expert review of clinical, analytical and management capability in University Hospital Limerick and CHO Mid-West and the other 8 individual focus sites and their relevant CHOs.

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