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Fine Gael TD Joe Carey waiting on trolley at University Hospital Limerick since Saturday

Overcrowding at UHL has been an ongoing issue in recent months.

0719 Brexit & border report Fine Gael TD Joe Carey Leah Farrell / RollingNews.ie Leah Farrell / RollingNews.ie / RollingNews.ie

FINE GAEL TD Joe Carey has spent the past two nights on a trolley at University Hospital Limerick (UHL) after being admitted on Saturday evening. 

In a tweet this afternoon, Carey said he was admitted to the hospital on Saturday evening by ambulance from his home after experiencing “a period of about 30 minutes” when he “just couldn’t breathe”. 

“This never happened before and there is a battery of tests lined up for me,” Carey said. 

“It appears to be an infection in my lung which is ironic, as I had given up the cigarettes 26 days ago today,” he said. 

The TD said he is “getting great care despite being on a trolley”. 

He said he wanted to thank “all the nurses, doctors, porters, catering and cleaning staff for their kindness and help”. 

“The ambulance crew were simply amazing and I can’t thank them enough for their professionalism and care. Hopefully I’ll be out and about before too long,” Carey said. 

A total of 525 admitted patients were waiting for beds in hospitals across the country this morning, according to the INMO. 

There were a total of 77 patients waiting on trolleys in UHL, of which 33 were in the Emergency Department and 44 were elsewhere in the hospital. 

Overcrowding at UHL

Overcrowding at UHL has been an ongoing issue in recent months. 

On 3 January, a “major internal incident” was announced as UHL became overhwelmed with patient numbers. 

The downgrading of Ennis Hospital, as well as other similarly sized hospitals in Limerick city and Nenagh, has been highlighted by doctors and health campaigners in the Midwest as the key factor behind the overcrowding.  

Reconfiguration of the region’s hospitals over a decade ago saw the A&E wards closed in Ennis, Nenagh and St John’s Hospital in Limerick City, partly due to safety concerns surrounding these smaller hospitals.

A pilot project to help alleviate the overcrowding at UHL got underway on 9 January. 

Patients in the midwest region are now being brought directly to Ennis Hospital instead of them waiting on a trolley at UHL.

The service will operate from 8am to 8pm but is not open to the public in general – a referral is required. Paramedics will transport patients to the unit until 6pm. 

Patients will need to meet criteria and any transfers will be done in consultation between the paramedic and a consultant at the hospital.

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    Mute Eggfuel
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    Mar 20th 2012, 7:09 AM

    What a country Ireland is at last growing into to. Its starting to mature at last… Excellent idea

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    Mute Mark O'Flaherty
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    Mar 20th 2012, 10:40 AM

    Its about time Irish heroes who fought in the great war, world war 2 and other wars for foreign armies, namely the British army are remembered. Credit has to be given to Myles Dungan and Kevin Myers for their continuous writing on this topic over the years and of course Mary McAleese for the fantastic work she did in her time as president.

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    Mute Eggers
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    Mar 20th 2012, 11:03 AM

    There was great economic pressure at the time of this recruitment, jobs were scare and people thought that the war would be short, It was a bit of an adventure for a lot of them. Unfortunately it did not turn out like that and the Irish suffered the greatest proportion of fatalities per capita of any people in the allied forces. They were treated as cannon fodder, there was nothing noble or heroic about being ordered out in your thousands to climb up a sea cliff while thousands of Ottoman soldiers shoot at you or charging across a bare field at German artillery. I certainly feel pity for them and how they were used. Like Ireland at the time, most of the men from the south in uniform were pro independence and freedom. Some were not, several of the RIC men that opened up on Bloody Sunday had done their service at the front in WW1. Countless men in the IRA, like the great Tom Barry had fought for years in WW1. My own Grand Uncle fought in WW1 and brought back weapons and grenades for my Grand Father’s IRA unit.

    There is nothing heroic in dying in mud at the hands of an enemy miles away in your thousands for a side that had no trouble with you going over first but nor do I despise them. Money was tight, jobs scare and the pressure to join up was massive. I’m just sad that they died the way they did, same as if they had fought for the Czar or the Kaiser.

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    Mute S P Mc Grath
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    Mar 20th 2012, 11:54 AM

    cannon fodder is all the Irish were in the trenches!!

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    Mute Eggers
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    Mar 20th 2012, 12:31 PM

    Indeed and a poignant point was that Unionist regiments and Nationalist regiments were both seen as Irish by the British colonels and used for first waves attacks.

    A man from Galway or from East Belfast was viewed as just as useful as stopping a German bullet, whatever flag he doodled in letters home.

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    Mute Cez Miname
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    Jan 6th 2014, 12:37 AM

    Bloody nonsense…

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    Mute Cez Miname
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    Jan 6th 2014, 12:34 AM

    “how Irishmen were recruited into British Forces… ” I really get fed up with this lazy post independence language that suggests the irish were dragged into some foreign army. We, like the English, Welsh and Scots simply joined THE Army.

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