Michael Lowry (Tipperary, Independent) | Oireachtas source

University Hospital Limerick is an ongoing serious problem. There is massive difficulty relating to overcrowding and poor delivery of service. There is obviously a problem with bed capacity, staff numbers and patient care. The hospital serves the constituency I represent in north Tipperary. Daily, and almost hourly, I receive calls from people complaining and giving out about the experience they had in UHL.

Recently, the Minister announced HIQA would start a review to see if a model 3 hospital was required. It is evident and obvious to everyone in the mid-west region that we need a model 3 hospital. The only question to be determined is the location of it. What is the time frame for HIQA to report on this? It is not something we can put on the long finger. When I hear the word "review", it immediately instils in the mind the impression that this is being put on the long finger. It is a matter of urgency that we get the level 3 hospital and an additional emergency department to serve the mid-west region.

The Minister also announced recently - I agree with this in principle - that our medical assessments units should be open for longer. In Nenagh, that was approved, funding was approved for it and recruitment has started. When I met with representatives of the hospital, however, I found the slots that are already available are not being filled because GPs are not referring patients to the unit in Nenagh. Rather, they are actually referring them to Limerick. The idea of the medical assessment units in Nenagh and Ennis is to avoid overcrowding at the emergency department at UHL. The first thing to do, before any announcements are made, is to ensure there is consultation with the nurses and the staff in these hospitals. They are the people on the front line who know exactly what is required and needed. They are actually being ignored, however. They should be central to the decision-making process but at the moment they are being sidelined.

As for mental health services in north Tipperary, and Tipperary in general, a former Minister of State, a member of the Labour Party, closed St. Michael’s psychiatric unit in Clonmel. At the time, we were told we would get an acute bed complement at Nenagh Hospital. That did not happen. We now have a situation in which patients from Tipperary have to travel through Nenagh and Limerick to arrive in Ennis, only to be told the unit in Ennis is overloaded and overcrowded and that the facility is not available to them. Many patients from north Tipperary have been asked to return home because there was no bed available for them or the consultant could not see them. North Tipperary needs a mental health acute bed complement. I ask the Minister of State to examine that possibility.

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