Richard O'Donoghue demands unannounced oversight at Limerick's UHL
Richard O'Donoghue addressed the Dáil about problems at University Hospital Limerick (UHL), urging the new minister to visit unannounced and enforce management accountability. He offered to assist directly, including acting as the "eyes and ears", and raised staffing, capacity and language-integration concerns affecting patient care.
Request for unannounced visits
O'Donoghue told the minister he should visit Limerick "not invited" to get a full grasp of the situation at UHL. He said predecessors had visited before notifying staff and insisted that an unannounced approach would better reveal issues on the ground.
Management and capacity concerns
He welcomed a recent change in management as a start but said more must be done, arguing that the original hospital design did not allow for population growth. He criticised a management culture that, in his view, focused on finding fault rather than supporting staff to solve problems.
Call for accountability and practical support
O'Donoghue urged the minister to move staff who cannot deliver the job and to adopt a hands-on approach that reassures and assists frontline workers. He emphasised he would not only criticise from across the floor but would help implement fixes.
Language and integration barriers
He highlighted integration issues at UHL, saying different nationalities and language barriers hinder communication between staff and patients. He argued addressing those barriers is necessary to ensure patients understand care and to support healthcare workers.
Aim to restore UHL's standing
O'Donoghue recalled that UHL was once a leading hospital for training and said he wants to see it return to delivering the best healthcare in Limerick. He reiterated his willingness to help the minister and, if required, to inspect the hospital personally as the "eyes and ears" to drive improvement.
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Thank you, Chair. I wish the Ministers very well in their new role. My first day here in the Dáil, the first thing I spoke about, and I had a piece of paper about this size, and at the time of Sean O'Friel, I spoke to him about the health system in Limerick. So Ministers, I'm asking for your help in Limerick, but I'm asking you to use a different approach. I'm asking for you, with a breath of fresh air, I want you not to turn up in Limerick invited. I'm asking you to turn up in Limerick not invited. Because your predecessor turned up two or three times to Limerick. I knew about it before he said that he wasn't being notified. It was. I was being told by the staff that he was coming. So to help you fix the problem, I'll help you. I'll do whatever I can to help you fix the problem in UHL. Now we've made a start with the change in management. It's made a start. But there's a lot more that can be done. I can help. I don't have to be here criticising across the floor all the time. I can help. But I want to make sure, Minister, that you go in there and you look for accountability. If somebody can't deliver the job for you, you've got to move them to that position. Because I believe the biggest problem in UHL in Limerick was when they first introduced a hospital for excellence, they never allowed for a population increase. And the management system that went in there, and if you go to any other place around the country, if there's a nurse under pressure and a senior nurse or a senior management comes around, what they were doing in Limerick was finding fault. What they should have been doing is pull up the sleeves and said, I'll help you and we'll fix the fall tomorrow by addressing the situation. That to me gives the staff saying, we've got help, we're not being criticised. And it then puts something in place to rectify it. I'm willing to help you with that. But for you to get a full grasp on it, you're going to have to go there unannounced. And I believe you will. And if I have to go in there myself to be the eyes and ears, I'll go in there myself to be the eyes and ears. I don't mind doing that. Because at the end of the day, we're going to get people the best healthcare and the UHL hospital in Limerick will become what it once was, was the number one hospital in Ireland at one time for training. What we have now as well, an issue that's happening in UHL and it's probably happening in other hospitals at the moment, is integration from different nationalities with a language barrier. Nothing to do with the healthcare, but with a barrier because of people understanding each other. That also needs to be helped address for the healthcare themselves and for the patients. It also needs to be addressed so we can help. Because what you don't want, if you have somebody sick in a hospital, you don't want somebody speaking a different language, because the person themselves might not be able to understand you. So what I'm asking the Minister, I will help you and I really wish you well in your position. I will do whatever I can to help you to make sure that you will make the most benefits out of this going forward.
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