UHL protest to take place outside the Dáil to demand “urgent” reopening of A&Es

A protest calling for the reopening of three Accident and Emergency (A&E) departments in the Mid West area is set to take place, weeks after Chief Executive of the HSE Bernard Gloster admitted that conditions at University Hospital Limerick (UHL) are “completely not acceptable.”

Organiser of the protest, set to take place on Thursday 25th April, Mike Daly, told Gript that concerned locals will be rallying from Limerick to Dublin and gathering outside the Dáil to amplify their calls for three A&E units to be reopened.

“It’s abundantly clear that relying on a single A&E to serve 420 thousand people is a recipe for disaster,” Mr Daly said.

“While Dublin boasts six A&E facilities, the Mid West struggles with just one. This glaring inequality underscores the urgency of our demand,” the campaigner continued.

He also took aim at the Minister for Health, adding:

“Minister for Health, Mr. Stephen Donnelly’s promises of more beds and doctors miss the mark entirely. The truth is, only the establishment of another A&E will effectively address the overcrowding crisis.

“This isn’t merely a healthcare issue; it’s a mathematical reality. With only one triage and five assessment rooms available, no amount of staffing or resources can expedite patient care adequately.

“Our demand is simple yet urgent: either open another A&E or significantly expand the existing UHL facility to triple its capacity. Only then can we alleviate overcrowding and prevent further loss of life,” Mr Daly added.

It is the latest in a string of protests organised by Mr Daly and other local campaigners. In January 2023, Mr Daly praised people for turning out in “numbers beyond expectations” after an estimated 11,000 people lined the streets of Limerick calling for plans to be put in place to reopen all three accident and emergency departments in Ennis, Nenagh and St. John’s to relieve pressure at UHL.

Mr Daly called on people to attend the protest next week, highlighting a crisis that has continued unabated.

Next week’s protest comes as it was revealed that last month that UHL, which has been in the spotlight for severe overcrowding for the past decade, set a new trolley record at the beginning of March – with 150 patients waiting for admission on one day.

The overwhelming numbers of people on trolleys meant that the University of Limerick hospital group, consisting of University Hospital Limerick, Ennis Hospital, St John’s Hospital Limerick and Croom orthopaedic clinic, was forced to postpone all non-emergency operations.

Speaking last week, HSE chief Bernard Gloster said he was “not satisfied” that resources are being used “in the best way that we can.”

“A lot has happened in the 13 years since reconfiguration, and certainly while Limerick didn’t finish up with the beds that would have been expected at the time. The investment in community healthcare across the country has fundamentally changed also.

“So there is very significant investment in resources there. I’m not satisfied we’re using it all in the best way that we can. So Limerick needs more, but we also need to do something different with what we have,” he told RTÉ radio’s Morning Ireland.

Mr Gloster also acknowledged that Limerick had a “very low uptake” on consultant doctors under the new public-only consultant contracts. 

The INMO has recorded over 300 patients on trolleys at UHL within the first three days of the week. It comes as one West Clare woman told local radio station Clare FM on Wednesday that she “feared for her life” during her stay at UHL.

27-year-old Mary Taylor from Kilkee was on holiday in Spain last week, when she started to suffer urgent back pain. After presenting at an urgent care centre, she was diagnosed with kidney stones.

While she flew home with the intention of undergoing a CT scan, she quickly developed additional symptoms and was rushed the the emergency department at UHL.

The young woman described conditions at the emergency department in the hospital as undignified and “horrific.”

Speaking on the regional radio station, Ms Taylor claimed that she was left screaming in pain without a doctor present to prescribe her painkillers for a significant period of time.

It would later on emerge that she was in the early stages of sepsis, which is potentially life-threatening.

She says she was told she could face delays of up to five days for surgery at UHL, and so self-discharged against medical advice – instead undergoing the operation at a Galway clinic the next morning.  

“I was on a trolley in a corridor until I just discharged myself,” the young mother said.

“I spent Friday night and all day Saturday and all day Sunday absolutely green in pain,” she added. “[The painkillers] were making me really comfortable until they ran out of it in the department I was in. All they could offer me instead was IV paracetamol.”

“I was in a lot of pain,” she added.

“I did accept every single thing that they offered me in the line of painkillers, but nothing came near the pain.”

“I was grey. I was being sick outside of the bed; my clothes were soaked […] it was really bad.”

On her final night in the hospital, Ms Taylor said she asked for painkillers 11 times but to no avail. 

In a statement to Clare FM, the UL Hospital Group said it regretted the long wait times for a bed, and challenges around privacy and dignity currently being experienced by patients in the ED.

An independent investigation by former Chief Justice Frank Clarke into the death of Shannon Teenager Aoife Johnston at UHL is scheduled to be completed by the end of next month.