Several elderly patients endure trolley waits of over 24 hours in UHL with no respite from overcrowding crisis

It came shortly after the verdict of medical misadventure at an inquest into the death of Aoife Johnston (16) from Shannon who died of sepsis in the hospital after a gruelling wait for treatment at the overwhelmed hospital in December 2022.

Nationally 42 patients were waiting for a bed for more than 24 hours with Limerick accounting for half of these. Overall, 62 patients were on trolleys in the hospital, but another 58 were in "surge" areas – beds taken from elsewhere which should be used for people in need of day procedures.

Meanwhile, there is political pressure on more experienced senior consultants in the hospital to be on duty in the emergency department late into the evening.

Asked to outline the cover arrangements now in place in the emergency department, a spokesman for the hospital said: "University Hospital Limerick has a cohort of 12 emergency medical consultants.

"Of these, typically five to seven consultants are rostered for duty in the emergency department during regular weekday working hours, 8am-5pm.

"After 5pm, there will typically be two consultants on duty up to 8pm, and frequently 10pm for those consultants on the public-only contract.

"A consultant is on call every night and at weekends, supported by additional consultant shifts from 1-6pm on Saturdays and Sundays that have been filled as required over the past number of months.

"Consultants in emergency medicine are supported by 47 approved non-consultant hospital doctors at various grades – an increase of 21 since January of 2023."

Asked if UHL has enough step-down facilities for discharged patients, the spokesman said it has access to inpatient beds in Model 2 hospitals at Nenagh, Ennis and St John's, in addition to rehab and residential care beds in the community.

"We work closely with our community colleagues to ensure timely patient access to rehab facilities in community nursing units, and to ensure these beds are optimised at all times.

"At present, we also access beds in private nursing homes, which provides a level of health and social care therapies and a transition period before discharging patients either to their homes or long-term residential care.

"Plans are also being progressed to utilise the new 50-bed community nursing unit facility in Nenagh as an interim step-down sub-acute facility run by a private provider, pending scheduled completion in early 2025 of the first of two new 96-bed blocks at Limerick hospital.

" Also being progressed is a plan to appoint an external service provider to provide and manage a Community Rehabilitation Unit in County Clare, supporting up to 25 beds.

"Both measures will provide further options to stream patients who require rehab and stepdown care, thus creating further capacity in the acute hospitals in the mid-west.

"UL Hospitals Group consistently meets all the national targets for delayed transfers of care," he added.

Questioned on how many nursing vacancies are in the hospital and how they are impacted by the HSE recruitment embargo, the spokesman referred to a statement by the chief executive of the HSE Bernard Gloster who said he would consider next steps and take account of the findings so far in the Aoife Johnston case when he receives a report from retired Judge Frank Clarke on her care.

Sinn Féin TD for Limerick City, Maurice Quinlivan, said yesterday the government must now outline a clear plan for when and how they will implement in full all recommendations of the coroner following the verdict of medical misadventure at the inquest into the death of Aoife Johnston.