No ambulances available as they wait to offload patients at Limerick A&E
Up to 100% of the entire HSE ambulance fleet for the mid-west region was parked up at the Emergency Department (ED) of University Hospital Limerick (UHL), waiting to offload patients there, sources in the ambulance service have claimed.
According to sources, sixteen ambulances -- which sources said was the entire fleet for the mid west - were not available to respond to calls, as they waited for their patients to be offloaded and signed into the ED at UHL.
Overcrowding at the Limerick ED, which caters for emergencies from Limerick, Tipperary and Clare, again reached peak national levels according to new figures published by the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation.
The daily figures published this morning showed 46 patients were treated on A&E trolleys and on additional trolleys or beds in the wards.
"There were sixteen ambulances there an hour ago," said a well placed source at 17.10pm.
"It's an absolute disgrace. It's a regular occurrence. There's often no ambulance available in Co Clare as they're all the time waiting to offload patients in Limerick," they added.
A video has emerged on social media of at least 14 ambulances waiting inside the grounds of the Limerick hospital, which takes emergency patients from Limerick city and county, Tipperary and Clare.
At an earlier stage there were "twelve ambulances" waiting at the hospital, another source claimed.
"They were parked on the verge of the roadway inside the hospital grounds. It was chaotic. You couldn't seem to get another patient into the place," the ambulance source revealed.
They described morale among ambulance crews as "pure cat"
"This is the worst I've seen in a long time. Today that was at least twelve crews off the road and it meant eighty to ninety per cent of the entire fleet for the mid west was off the road."
They said: "What is done to combat the lack of resources is that crews are brought in from Galway or Kerry or Offaly or Clonmel or Wexford to cover the mid west. They'll salvage whatever they can for their own area then."
"It's an ongoing dilemma."
The ambulance source added: "The important thing is that the HSE can say they can always dispatch a crew within ninety seconds. It could take two hours or twenty minutes to get there but they can always say they can respond within 90 seconds."
"The National Ambulance Service is literally fire fighting and trying to keep it at bay. Morale is pure cat, just unbelievable. Nobody wants to come into work."
They claimed: "You're lucky to get lunch. There's no down time to get a breather from the stressful calls. We are designated breaks but there isn't time to take them. You could have a day where it's very quiet so you're on a break all day, and you take the good with the bad, but it's now always bad all the time; there isn't enough crews."
The HSE and National Ambulance Service has been asked for comment on the numbers of ambulances waiting at UHL.
In a statement, the HSE has said, "The ED in University Hospital Limerick is one of the busiest in the country. The Christmas/New Year period has been exceptionally busy with many frail elderly patients presenting and requiring admission to hospital.
"This evening there are 17 adults waiting in ED for a hospital bed.
"In addition, 15 beds are temporarily closed in St John’s Hospital Limerick while recruitment to fill vacant nursing posts is underway.
"Patients are reminded that the ED in UHL is for emergencies only.
"The MAU in Ennis is open from 8am to 6pm, Mon to Fri and from 10am to 6pm on Sat and Sun. In addition there are MAUs in Nenagh and St. John’s, operating 5 days a week, 8am to 6pm.
"Our Injury Units in St John’s, Ennis and Nenagh are locally based services treating minor injuries and are a safe alternative to the ED for a number of injuries and conditions including sprains, suspected broken bones and lacerations."
