Jennifer Carroll MacNeill stated on Monday that she was not dismissing the possibility of approving a new hospital or reopening former accident and emergency departments to expand bed capacity in the mid-west region.
While visiting University Hospital Limerick (UHL) to unveil a new €105 million, 96-bed facility, the Minister for Health was confronted with the fact that UHL remained the most overcrowded hospital in the country, reports Breaking News.
According to data from the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation, which has long warned about UHL’s severe overcrowding, there were 100 patients on trolleys—40 in the Emergency Department and 60 elsewhere in the hospital.
Ms MacNeill told journalists that “all of the options are on the table,” reports Breaking News.
She mentioned that she has until “before Christmas” to determine which of the three solutions presented in a HIQA report she would support.
The Health Information and Quality Authority’s review of emergency services in the region recommended either building a new hospital, expanding the existing UHL campus, or increasing capacity at an alternate location away from UHL, reports Breaking News.
The watchdog’s report stated that the fundamental problem was a lack of inpatient beds in the region and warned that “immediate action” was necessary to ensure patient safety was not compromised.
Ms MacNeill said while she was “open to all three options that HIQA have identified,” her main “priority” was to increase short-term capacity, reports Breaking News.
Construction is already underway on another 96-bed facility at UHL, with discussions ongoing about adding a third block.
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According to the Minister, the plan to expand UHL would shift the region from having the “lowest per capita in-bed ratio” in 2020 to the “second highest in the country” by 2028, reports Breaking News.
She described the opening of the 96 new beds as a “significant step towards addressing the bed capacity deficits in the mid west.”
Ms MacNeill also committed to consulting with all stakeholders, including local patient advocacy groups, and added, “I’m thinking about twenty years ahead about what this region is going to need,” reports Breaking News.
The Mid West Regional Hospital Campaign Group, which includes relatives of patients who died on trolleys amid overcrowding at UHL, has consistently urged the reopening of emergency departments in Ennis (Co Clare), Nenagh (North Tipperary), and St John’s Hospital in Limerick, which was closed and restructured in 2009.
When questioned about potentially reopening these A&E departments to reduce pressure on UHL’s Emergency Department, she acknowledged such units would need extra support services but reiterated, “all of the options are on the table at the moment,” reports Breaking News.
Ms MacNeill said other efforts are already in place to relieve pressure on UHL, such as allocating more beds to Model 2 hospitals for step-down care, increasing the number of Medical Assessment Units, and introducing virtual wards, “because we don’t want people coming to the emergency department unless they really need to,” reports Breaking News.
Still, she admitted that a “twenty-year vision is not going to be enough” and said further strategies will be essential to expand capacity, reports Breaking News.
Roughly 400 staff are needed to operate the newly opened 96-bed block. It’s believed that 300 have already been hired, while the rest are being covered through agency workers and staff already in place at the hospital.
When asked if the facility had sufficient staff, HSE CEO Bernard Gloster responded: “We’re not in the habit of opening facilities that are not safely and properly staffed.
“All of the beds are open, the unit is staffed. This unit would not be open if the beds were not properly staffed and the patients being able to be cared for,” reports Breaking News.
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