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The government needs to ‘urgently change’ direction in policy to deliver much-needed additional bed capacity to the Mid West, the Medical Board of University Hospital Limerick has said. In response to a recent HIQA review of emergency services in the region, the board said that the publication had a clear message – that patient safety is being compromised by the severe shortage of acute hospital beds. A statement from the Board references some of the key conclusions from the HIQA review, which found that ‘the key problem is that there are not enough inpatient beds in the Mid West to meet current demand for those patients requiring admission.’ “Given the above, we hope to no longer hear the HSE or the Department of Health blame staff in HSE Mid West for problems that have yet again been clearly identified as those of physical bed capacity, the UHL Medical Board said. “Rather, it would be appropriate to acknowledge the inequitable access, the privacy and dignity deficiencies our patients experience and recognition of the superb work of HSE Mid West consultants, nursing and support staff in delivering more emergency care than any other Model 4 hospital in the state, despite such inadequate infrastructure.” Published in September, the HIQA report advised that, while a Model 3 hospital would be beneficial in the long term for the region to address its capacity issues, short-term measures would be needed to address the current crisis impacting patients. Pointing to the fact that UHL was found to have the lowest number of inpatient beds relative to the number of people who attend the ED, the HIQA report said that current plans to increase capacity in the region, as laid out in the Government’s Acute Hospital Inpatient Capacity Expansion Plan 2024-2031, will only partially address the issue. The Medical Board added: “Add to this finding that the current plan does not address the provision of any Model 3 beds in the Mid West whatsoever, and the scale of the deficiency becomes clearer. “Outside of the Mid West, there are 17 Model 3 hospitals in total across the other Health Regions. The Mid West currently does not have a single Model 3 hospital bed, nor will it by 2031 when all of the additional 4,367 new and replacement acute inpatient beds are due to be delivered nationally under the Acute Hospital Inpatient Capacity Expansion Plan. “In addition, all of these other regions have more Model 4 beds than the Mid West. The direction from Government on this critical point needs to urgently change.” The Board, which is chaired by colorectal surgeon Prof Colin Pierce, said it would like to work with the Department of Health on ways to address the crisis, and has called on the Minister for Health to outline how she will progress the report’s recommendations. “In addition, we are seeking clarity from the Department of Health on the mechanism for channelling the resources required for urgent capital development in the Mid West. “If necessary, we believe this may require the re-phasing of capital developments elsewhere in the country, until such a time as equity of access to emergency healthcare for all families in Ireland is achieved.” The Board has called for a truncation of planning and administration processes to speed up the delivery of new beds, and for more staff to be appointed in the region, adding that vacancies left unfilled due to the HSE Pay and Numbers Strategy compounds the risk to patient safety. “We believe a derogation from this blunt staff limit in the region could impact positively on patient care and reduce risk,” the Board said.
