A Clare Government TD believes capacity at private hospitals in the region need to be used to eased the pressure on University Hospital Limerick.

Nurses have reported record overcrowding numbers at the Dooradoyle facility this week.

It’s led to members of the Midwest Hospital Campaign renewing calls for reopening Ennis’ emergency department.

126 patients were reported to be waiting for a bed at UHL yesterday by the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation, the highest number recorded in any hospital since trolley statistics began in 2006.

That number has dropped today to 97, which is still among the highest recorded in a single day.

While the UL Hospitals Group disputes the true number, it says the numbers waiting for a bed remain ‘far too high’, leading to ‘poor patient experiences’ as a result.

It’s led to renewed calls to re-open Ennis’ emergency department to ease pressure on the region’s health system.

The Midwest Hospital Campaign will bring a deferred motion to the next meeting of the Regional Health Forum West calling for the region’s ED’s to be revert to 24/7 facilities.

Ballyvaughan native Noeleen Moran, who’s a member of the group, says another facility in the Midwest is needed.

A North Clare woman whose husband passed away on a trolley four years ago this week says the crisis is having a snowball effect on all health services in the region.

Marie McMahon believes there’s a disconnect between the region and central Government on the issue.

An elective-only hospital as been widely mooted in political and wider healthcare circles as a possible solution to the problems at UHL.

However, one of Clare Independent TD’s believes a quicker solution is needed to ease pressure on the Midwest’s health system in the short term.

Scariff-based Independent Deputy Michael McNamara says an elective facility could take more than a decade, and additional wards and beds are needed along with the potential expansion of Ennis, Nenagh and St John’s.

Clare’s Fine Gael TD believes short-term answers may lie in utilising current private capacity in the Midwest.

Clarecastle-based Deputy Joe Carey says a greater use of existing facilities in Ennis and further afield could ease pressure on the system.

The UL Hospitals Group says UHL remains under ‘severe pressure’ and that scheduled care will be cancelled as a result, with the patients concerned to be contacted directly.