Concern for North Tipp patients and staff in Limerick hospital

A local councillor has said he is very concerned about the safety of North Tipperary patients and staff in University Hospital Limerick following a fire in the hospital a few weeks ago.

Staff in the hospital had to move patients from their rooms following the early-morning fire in the bathroom of an inpatient ward. No patients, staff or members of the public were harmed.

Cllr Seamus Morris told a recent meeting of Nenagh Municipal District that UHL is not fit for purpose. Several years ago the Emergency Department in Nenagh Hospital was closed down and people were told to go to UHL instead, which was declared to be a “state of the art” facility. In the intervening period it's been shown on many occasions to have fallen short of the state of the art label.

“Some months ago fire safety officers expressed serious concern about overcrowding in the A&E,” said Cllr Morris. “Thankfully no one was hurt in this fire a couple of weeks ago but we are all very concerned for people's safety.”

Senior Executive Rosemary Joyce told Cllr Morris that she has written  to the Chief Fire Officer of Limerick's fire authority expressing the Council's concerns about the situation.

Some months ago Cllr Morris called on HIQA to outline what steps were being taken to ensure safety at University Hospital Limerick. A couple of years ago Limerick's fire authority said it might take legal action over the overcrowding situation in the Emergency Department.

Cllr Morris pointed out that overcrowding in the ED means that it’s an “incredibly unsafe” work environment for staff. The Councillor asked the health watchdog HIQA to outline what recent inspections had taken place in the facility.

In June the nursing union INMO (Irish Nurses and Midwives' Organisation) claimed that safety reports are not being adhered to in UHL due to “chronic overcrowding”. INMO called on the Health and Safety Authority to act on the “unsafe conditions” affecting nurses and patients. The union said it was considering consulting its members on the possibility of balloting for industrial action. “The dignity of patients is often diminished because of the conditions they are being treated in,” stated INMO. “Emergency Departments are pressure cooker environments leading to the physical and verbal assault of our members in some instances. The HSE has a duty to provide a safe environment for employees and patients and this just is not being adhered to in the vast majority of hospitals. Our nurses are at the end of our tether, and they cannot provide the clinical care that is required. They are burnt out both physically and mentally and cannot continue at this pace.”