Morris slams health service

The people of the Mid West have no faith in the safety of the Emergency Department at University Hospital Limerick, Nenagh councillor Séamie Morris has stated.

He claims this lack of faith is leading to some patients refusing to go to the hospital unless they are extremely ill. He said they were travelling to other hospitals outside the Mid West for treatment rather than go to “the so-called Centre of Excellence” in Limerick.

Cllr Morris said people entering the Emergency Department in UHL were faced with “horrific conditions”, including the threat of theft from drug addicts in what he said is an uncontrolled environment.

Accusing the three sitting North Tipperary TDs of lack of action to ease patients’ woes over the years, Cllr Morris said he was one of few politicians that has remained loyal to the belief that the reconfiguration of services back in 2009 was ill-conceived and reckless.

Cllr Morris said the promised Centre of Excellence in UHL was never actually delivered as the optimum number of beds envisaged for the facility was never achieved.

“In fact, incredibly, 13 years after reconfiguration, hospital management have said that they only have 530 beds, which is 70 beds short of what they need. “And they are now claiming that they need more as they haven’t enough beds to cope with the growing population.

“Has anyone ever heard of the Census?”, he asked, criticising HSE management for not taking account of population trends.