New UHL unit 'won't solve overcrowding'

A NEW 96-bed unit was opened at University Hospital Limerick yesterday - after locals had been calling for more capacity for years.

- BY CIARA O'LOUGHLIN Political Correspondent

The hospital provides the only 24-hour emergency department for Limerick, Clare and north Tipperary and consistently has the highest number of people on trolleys awaiting care.

A new block on the Dooradoyle campus was opened by Health Minister Jennifer Caroll MacNeill yesterday. It consists of four wards of 24 beds, which will require 400 additional staff.

A recruitment drive is in progress to fill all roles for the wards.

But while the new unit is being widely welcomed, it will not meet capacity needed for the region.