People urged to use Local Injury Unit in Tipperary as Limerick experiences high ED demand

Patients with less urgent healthcare needs today are asked to attend Injury Units and consider all other healthcare options before attending the Emergency Department at University Hospital Limerick (UHL), which is currently managing very high emergency attendances and admissions.

With 269 ED attendances on Tuesday, and 276 on Monday, the hospital is in a high state of escalation, and people whose healthcare needs are less than acute will face long waits in ED as our teams work to prioritise elderly patients and those in need of immediate emergency care

"We apologise to all patients who are experiencing long waits for an inpatient bed at this very busy time. 

"We are working to the Group’s Escalation Framework in a continued effort to create surge capacity and maximise inpatient beds across our sites, and balance the high demand for emergency care with the safe delivery of time-critical and other elective activity," a spokesperson said.

However, anyone with a serious injury or unexpected illness should attend ED or call 999/112. Those who are less than acutely unwell should first consider the Injury Units in Ennis, Nenagh or St John’s Hospitals, as well as GPs, out-of-hours GP services and their local pharmacies.

Opening hours for Ennis and Nenagh Injury Units are 8am-8pm, and St John’s Injury Unit 8am-7pm. For information and contact details for the units, go to the HSE website at https://www2.hse.ie/services/ injury-units/

A spokesperson for UHLG said that additional ward rounding is ongoing in UHL so that appropriate patients can be discharged or transferred to Ennis, Nenagh and St John’s Hospital.

They are also working with their colleagues in HSE Mid West Community Healthcare in order to further expedite suitable discharges home or to community care beds.