Half of the 96 ‘new’ beds at overcrowded hospital merely replace old ones
UHL source warns ‘there won’t be capacity increase’ despite CEO’s claims
JUST over a half of the muchneeded new beds for the country’s most overcrowded hospital will be able to cater for new patients, the Irish Mail on Sunday has learned.
University Hospital Limerick (UHL) consistently records the highest trolley and waiting figures in the country and has been at the centre of a number of high-profile controversies relating to fatal patient outcomes.
The hospital currently has 535 beds and building work has commenced on a new 96-bed block which is due to open next year.
But it has now emerged that only 50 of these new beds will be additional ones.
Work is also due to get under way over the coming weeks on a second 96-bed block in a bid to alleviate the overcrowding crisis at UHL.
A source said of the 96-bed block due to open next year: ‘This block is only replacing some of the 96 beds in old wards at UHL. Some of these old wards will then be used for extra administration staff and not medical staff. So there won’t be an increase in bed capacity as stated by the CEO of the hospital and ministers.’
Another source said there is ‘a row ongoing’ between the hospital management and the HSE over the new beds.
They told the MoS: ‘The hospital management wants to repurpose and refurbish some of what they call “nightingale wards”.
‘These are the wards where you would have six to eight patients at a time. The management wants fewer people in wards for infection control reasons and they want to replace these with single occupancy rooms. But there is a crisis going on at UHL at the moment and there is tension between the hospital, the HSE and the Department of Health over this refurbishment plan which if it goes ahead will mean that the hospital will not have an additional 96 beds but only about half of that.’
Sinn Féin health spokesman David Cullinane called on Health Minister Stephen Donnelly and HSE chief Bernard Gloster to intervene to ensure that all of the 192 beds in the two new blocks will provide additional capacity for the hospital.
The Waterford TD told the MoS: ‘The difficulty here is that hospital management are looking at repurposing and refurbishing existing wards which will result in a loss of at least 40 beds… and only 50 [of the new 96 bed block] will be additional beds.
‘This is at a time of crisis in the hospital. It’s important for the Department of Health and the HSE to intervene to ensure that any repurposing of space in the hospital does not lead to a reduction in bed capacity.’
Deputy Cullinane added: ‘The hospital’s own bed capacity review identified a need for a net additional 230 beds, so even if the two 96 bed blocks come on stream it still will not be sufficient. It will still fall short.’
Last week the MoS revealed how the UHL group has 35 fewer new beds than Mr Donnelly had publicly claimed.
He earlier said up to 150 extra beds had been provided at the six hospitals run by the UL Hospitals group since 2020.
But when the MoS asked the UHL group for a detailed breakdown of their location, UHL confirmed just 115 of the 150 extra beds have been provided during the past four years. A spokeswoman for Mr Donnelly’s Department said she would try to provide clarity about the missing 35 beds.
However, one week later, the Department has still not been able to explain the difference between the figures it supplied and those provided by the UHL group.
When the two new 96-bed blocks are eventually built, UHL’s capacity should be stretched to a total of 727 beds.
But when asked what the hospital’s total bed capacity will be when the two new blocks are open, a hospital spokesman would only say: ‘This is a matter for ongoing discussion.’
Figures compiled by the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) show UHL is consistently the most overcrowded hospital in the country.
Overcrowding levels were so high in recent weeks that all elective surgery had to be cancelled for three days.
There is ‘an ongoing row’ over the new beds
‘This is a time of crisis in the hospital’
Hospital at odds with Donnelly over 'newbeds' claim