Visitor restrictions introduced at University Hospital Limerick due to spike in flu cases

University Hospital Limerick is managing high attendances at its Emergency Department and significant inpatient admissions, driven by a spike in hospitalisations of people with flu over the past week.

As of Monday, December 30, there are 76 patients with flu in UHL alone - a 204% increase on the 25 recorded seven days earlier.

Given the demand on services, management are advising patients in Clare and across the region of the following actions:

Restricting visitors across all sites to one visitor per patient.

Children not permitted to visit adult wards at this time

Visiting hours of 2-4pm and 6-9pm to be strictly enforced

Visitors must clean their hands on entry and exiting of wards.

Visitors to UHL are being advised to wear face masks, which are available in the hospital.

HSE Mid-West is urgently appealing to people to not to visit any of its hospitals if they feel they have flu.

A spokesperson said ED attendances at UHL over the last three days have averaged 288 compared with 2023’s average daily attendance of 219.

"Over the past two weeks attendances have increased by 30% compared to 2023.

"This is part of a national trend, which saw flu hospitalisations across the country increase from 742 people on Friday to 809 on Saturday," said the spokesperson.

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Bernard Gloster, HSE CEO, said on Sunday: “We expect the number to reach around 900 in the coming week and are taking several measures to prepare for the potential surge in hospitalisations and intensive care admissions due to the flu.”

To respond to the demand in Clare and across the Mid-West, as elsewhere in the country, community healthcare measures have been ramped up, including longer opening hours at some GP practices and increased out-of-hours services.

HSE Mid-West urges people across the region to assist in curtailing the spread of flu by staying at home if you have symptoms.

"People should adhere to simple coughing and sneezing etiquette, such as using a tissue or coughing/sneezing into your elbow, and not your hands. You should consider all available healthcare options, including local pharmacies, your family doctors, or the ShannonDoc out-of-hours GP service on 0818 123 500. Visitors to our hospitals are asked not to visit if you have any symptoms of vomiting or diarrhoea, a cough, cold or a temperature.

"It is still not too late for healthcare workers, at-risk individuals (pregnant; older persons; those with weak immune systems; aged 60 and older) and children aged 2-17 to avail of free flu vaccines, which are available from GPs and participating pharmacies.

"HSE Mid West urges people across the region to assist in curtailing the spread of flu by staying at home if you have symptoms. You should consider all available healthcare options, including local pharmacies, your family doctors, or the ShannonDoc out-of-hours GP service on 0818 123 500. Visitors to our hospitals are asked not to visit if you have any symptoms of vomiting or diarrhoea, a cough, cold or a temperature," said the spokesperson.

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HSE Mid-West is also providing access to urgent care facilities as an alternative to ED

Injury Units in Ennis, Nenagh and St John’s Hospitals, operating 8am-8pm all year including bank holidays and weekends. Patients are typically seen and treated in under two hours, no appointment is needed, and there is no charge if you are referred by your GP.

Medical Assessment Units are located in Ennis, Nenagh and St John’s hospitals. They provide an alternative option for GPs to secure prompt assessment and treatment of medical patients who otherwise might have presented to ED at UHL.

Additional consultants are on duty in UHL at weekends and bank holidays to assist with patient discharges and hospitals have limited surgical treatments to urgent cases only.