UL Hospitals Group encourages public to help protect ED for emergency care this Bank Holiday weekend

Ahead of the June Bank Holiday, UL Hospitals Group is encouraging the public to consider all care options before attending the busy Emergency Department at University Hospital Limerick (UHL), where healthcare staff are prioritising emergency care for the patients most in need of it.

This year, patients have presented at the ED in UHL for care and treatment, including a significant number of people who are seen, treated and discharged without requiring hospital admission, many of whom could have been treated at Injury Units, family doctors, Out-of-Hours GPs and pharmacies.

This Bank Holiday weekend, the ED at UHL will continue to see and treat patients who require urgent and emergency treatment first. Patients who attend for routine and non-urgent treatment can experience very long waiting times over the holiday weekend and into early next week.

UL Hospitals Group regrets this delay, and is asking the public to help our staff at this challenging time.

Dr Damien Ryan, Emergency Medicine Consultant at UL Hospital Group, and also lead of the Injury Unit at Nenagh Hospital, said that anyone who is seriously ill or in need of emergency care should not delay in attending the ED, and encouraged people with more minor injuries and ailments to consider all the options, including the Injury Units at St John’s, Ennis and Nenagh Hospitals.

“The ED in UHL has seen unprecedented demand over the past number of weeks, and we’ve had to prioritise our sickest patients, as we always do. The downside is that people with less serious illnesses will have longer wait times for assessment and provision of care. So we would strongly urge people who have more minor symptoms or injuries to consider attending their General Practitioner, or one of the out-of-hours GP services like ShannonDoc. Additionally we have Injury Units in Nenagh, Ennis and St John’s Hospitals, which are well set up to provide care for minor injuries such as sprains, fractures, wounds, burns, etc, to everyone over the age of five years, and provide very efficient and timely care in those settings,” Dr Ryan said.

As always if you or someone else is seriously ill or needs urgent emergency care do not delay going to ED at University Hospital Limerick or dialling 999/112 for help.

To get rapid access to the most reliable information about Injury Units, simply go to Google and type ‘HSE, Injury Units’. The HSE website has full information about the range of services available in Nenagh, Ennis and St John’s Hospital, including contact numbers for people who may wish to call ahead of attending.