Limerick Sinn Féin TD Maurice Quinlivan said that he has no confidence in the management of the HSE in Limerick to deal with the issues raised by the recent Health Information and Quality Authority report on overcrowding in University Hospital Limerick.
The HIQA report published yesterday raised serious concerns regarding patient safety at the hospital due to overcrowding at the Emergency Department.
It details how the hospital is failing to comply with national standards governing patient dignity, patient care and staffing levels.
In addition, UHL is only partially compliant with guidelines for the effective management of services.
The report said inspectors were not assured the hospital had adequate measures in place to address overcrowding, ineffective patient flow; insufficient nurse staffing levels and prolonged ED wait times.
Reacting to the report today Sinn Féin TD Maurice Quinlivan said: "I've lost all confidence in the management at the hospital and there needs to be a complete change at management level."
As patient overcrowding has been an ongoing issue at the main public hospital in the midwest for several years Mr Quinlivan added: "I've zero confidence that the HSE will act on this report, so the Minister needs to act to make sure that they do and if that means that people need to be changed or moved then that has to be done."
Fianna Fáil TD in Limerick Willie O'Dea said that the ongoing overcrowding issues at University Hospital Limerick are a source of "great embarrassment to local politicians who have failed to bring about healthcare equality to the people of the Midwest in comparison to other areas of the county".
He said that extra emergency referral facilities have been recommended for Cork, Galway and Dublin to deal with overcrowding in hospitals whereby patients would be sent to referral only hospitals to take pressure off emergency departments.
Mr O'Dea said "curiously" the Midwest "has been overlooked".
"I've raised this issue with the Taoiseach in the Dáil, and he was receptive to the idea but so far the Minster for health doesn't seem to be so receptive for reasons that are still to be explained to me," he said.
"This is surprising and very disappointing, and it is something that I intend to follow up in the coming weeks," he added.
