Nearly 240 patients perished while queuing on trolleys at the University Hospital Limerick (UHL)’s A&E department over the last five years, new statistical data suggests. These figures, unveiled during a regional health forum’s monthly meeting, arrived amidst heightened scrutiny of the hospital due to severe overcrowding, staff deficits, and worries over potential harm to patients.
Between 2019 and 2023, the A&E department recorded 239 deaths of patients stuck on trolleys. The most fatal year was 2019, with 58 fatalities, with the figure reducing to 41 in the last year.
Colette Cowan, UHL group’s CEO, pointed out that the figures also accounted for hospital admittees who were allocated a bed but were still in the A&E at their time of death. However, patients who were already dead upon arrival at the A&E, or critically injured or critically ill patients directly moved to resuscitation after an accident or sever illness, were not included.
Ms Cowan highlighted that 90 percent of patients were categorised as the most critical, indicating a life-threatening illness or patients near death. She mentioned the existence of a single room pathway in the A&E for seriously ill or dying patients aimed at hastening their transfer to the primary hospital.
Stats for other regional hospitals were also displayed. Among them, Sligo University Hospital’s A&E registered 150 deaths, and Galway University hospital’s A&E witnessed 195 fatalities during the same span. However, the hospitals couldn’t confirm whether patients were on trolleys or in a treatment bay at death.
These figures were the response to a query by Clare councillor Cillian Murphy, who argued the need to better understand what’s transpiring at UHL in a broader context. He insisted that an exclusive focus on UHL’s outcomes creates a narrow perspective without a comparative understanding of other hospitals’ scenarios.
The figures highlighting 22 per cent more fatalities at UHL compared to the following model 4 in Galway might be startling, yet they reveal a drop by 29 per cent from 2019. This clearly demonstrates that measures are being taken to tackle this issue, which should be duly noted and referenced as well. Cllr Murphy highlighted that every single case presents a devastatingly sorrowful and distressing situation for the loved ones of the deceased. He stressed the importance of making changes to mitigate such occurrences to the greatest extent feasible.
In the past few weeks, UHL has been subjected to rigorous examination following an inquest into the untimely death of 16-year-old Aoife Johnston due to medical misadventure. Subsequent to the conclusion of the inquest, a support team has been assembled to deal with the presently acute stress on the health services in the Midwest area – overcrowding at UHL being a particularly troubling issue.
Some time later, Stephen Donnelly, the Health Minister, declared that an evaluation was being carried out to determine if there was a need for an additional ED in the region because of the “persistent stress” being faced at UHL.