The emergency department in UHL has experienced increased attendances and admissions in recent months. These increases, along with the additional pressure covid has placed on capacity, have resulted in increased Patient Experience Times and usage of trolleys. This is despite the addition of 150 beds in the UL Hospital Group, 98 of which were in UHL itself, over the past two years.
I wrote to the CEO of the HSE requesting that he send in an expert team to ascertain what additional resources might be deployed, as well as any changes that could be made to alleviate the current pressures.
The Team has engaged with the Hospital Group and Mid-West Community Healthcare to review the day-to-day functioning within a leadership, management, operational and clinical context and has made a number of site visits to UHL. The primary focus is on determining purposeful and integrated actions aimed at delivering sustained improvements. This work also includes key proposals and recommendations for community enhancements to support an integrated approach for effective patient flow.
Separately the hospital management has commissioned Deloitte to conduct an external review of patient flow at University Hospital Limerick. The Deloitte Review is progressing and engagement with the Mid-West Community Healthcare has commenced. The final report is expected in the coming weeks. The HSE review team will also consider the outputs of this work in its review.
