Government must back new Midwest hospital without delay
Government must back new Midwest hospital without delay - The Labour Party
Labour TD for Limerick Conor Sheehan said today that Government must make a firm Cabinet decision next week to deliver a second Emergency Department for the Midwest, following another week of severe overcrowding at University Hospital Limerick (UHL).
Speaking in the Dáil, Deputy Sheehan said the Minister for Health’s response failed to engage with the scale of the crisis and offered no evidence that conditions are improving for patients or staff.
Deputy Sheehan said:
“Families across Limerick, Clare and Tipperary are once again facing unbearable waits in an emergency department that has been pushed beyond safe capacity for years. This is not a winter surge. It is an entrenched failure by this Government to plan for the healthcare needs of the Midwest. When 103 people are without a bed in a single day, the human impact is impossible to ignore. It is older people, children, and vulnerable patients who pay the price.
“This Government has consistently claimed that improvements are being made, yet today the Minister offered no data, no evidence and no reassurance for the thousands who rely on UHL. His response ignored the core issue: capacity has not kept pace with population need, and a second Emergency Department is no longer optional. The commitment in the Sláintecare Implementation Strategy to expand acute capacity was clear. The question is why it has not been delivered for the Midwest.
“The Minister’s reply today was deeply inadequate. Instead of addressing the chronic shortfall of beds, he spoke in generalities about progress without any proof. That is not good enough for a region that has only one Emergency Department serving more than 400,000 people. A Cabinet memo will come forward next week. It must include a clear decision to develop a new Model 3 hospital providing a second ED. Anything less would be a dereliction of duty.
“The failures go beyond acute capacity. Government inaction on flu vaccination has compounded pressures that were entirely predictable. Uptake rates for children and healthcare workers remain far below targets, and this Government chose not to procure the enhanced flu vaccine despite strong evidence of its effectiveness for older people. This is not planning. It is penny-wise, pound-foolish policy that places both scheduled care and patient outcomes at risk.
“Labour is calling for three immediate steps: a Cabinet decision next week to build a new hospital and second ED for the Midwest; a universal and free flu vaccination programme supported by a strong public awareness campaign; and full accountability for why the enhanced vaccine was not rolled out. People in the Midwest deserve a healthcare system that works, not one forced into crisis every winter. This Government must act now. Patients deserve better.”