Almost 27,000 people left University Hospital Limerick’s (UHL) Emergency Department without receiving care since 2019.
Figures released to TD Violent Anne Wynne from UHL show in December 2022, 1,034 people left the Emergency Department without being seen to.
UHL said last year was their busiest, with 9,180 not receiving care out of 79,891.
Deputy Wynne said these figures show a “disregard this Government continues to show the mid-west with regards to access to healthcare”.
“The only appropriate response in this situation considering we’re getting high numbers of people leaving without care [is] to tackle the fact we don’t have a Model Three hospital.
“Being the only region that still doesn’t have a Model Three hospital shows their attitude towards the mid-west, and that has to change.”
'Nothing short of appalling'
Mid-West Hospital Campaign Group Member Dr Conor Reidy said people across Limerick, Clare and Tipperary can report problems in UHL.
“We in the Mid-West Hospital Campaign have heard hundreds of stories from patients and families about the conditions they face in the UHL Emergency Department which are nothing short of appalling,” he said.
“This situation is reflective of a system that is failing and as a community, we deserve better,” he said.
University Hospital Limerick. Image: PA Images / Alamy Stock PhotoDr Reidy said the Emergency Department “through no fault of the staff, has sadly become a symbol of neglect”.
“We're not asking for miracles, we’re demanding accountability and action,” he said.
UHL confirmed work is ongoing on a new 96-bed inpatient block in the hospital, and construction will take two years to complete.
“These projects will go a significant way towards addressing the well-documented shortfall of inpatients bed capacity in UHL and the mid-west region,” it said in a letter.
