Press release
Statement from the Minister for Health - 22 June 2022
From Department of Health
Published on
Last updated on
From Department of Health
Published on
Last updated on
The Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly today met with senior officials from his own department, and from the HSE, to discuss immediate responses to the pressures currently being faced by the 29 Emergency Departments across the country.
Those discussions included a specific engagement around the ED at University Hospital Limerick in the context of the particular pressures being experienced by that hospital, and the recent reports by both HIQA and a HSE Expert Team which were recently deployed to Limerick at the Ministers request.
The officials involved in today’s discussions included that Expert Team.
Minister Donnelly was pleased to learn that as a result of the intervention he requested, and the recent HIQA report, the Chief Operations Officer of the HSE has now written to both the CEO of University of Limerick Hospital Group, and the Chief Officer of Mid-West Community Healthcare, informing them that she has mandated the Performance Management Improvement Unit (PMIU) of the HSE to engage urgently with the Hospital Group and the CHO under the HSE’s Performance Accountability Framework.
The PMIU will provide intensive support to both hospital and community teams to ensure that the issues identified in the recent assessment, and the HIQA report, are addressed as a matter of urgency.
While recognising that the programme of investment in hospital and community capacity in the region is ongoing, the PMIU will ensure that all necessary immediate steps are taken to address the safety issues identified, including chronic overcrowding. A detailed plan will be urgently developed to ensure that they do not reoccur. Such planning will include issues including; admission avoidance, pre admissions, community interventions and alternative pathways as well as issues regarding patient flow through the hospital and ED.
Minister Donnelly has welcomed this action and has made clear that all necessary immediate resources will be committed to ensure safe and appropriate levels of care are restored in Limerick without delay.