HIQA inspection at University Hospital Limerick just hours after Taoiseach's visit

Inspectors from the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) are visiting University Hospital Limerick this Tuesday, it has been confirmed.

The unannounced inspection, the first since since March 2022, is being carried out less than 96 hours after Taoiseach Leo Varadkar visited the hospital and 24 hours after it was reported that there were more than 100 people on trolleys.

There is no indication as to how long the inspection will last and a report outlining the findings and recommendations is unlikely to published for several months.

The UL Hospitals Group has declined to comment while a spokesperson for HIQA stated: "HIQA began a two-day unannounced inspection of UHL today (Tuesday). A report of the inspection will be published in due course."

However, Sinn Fein senator, Paul Gavan, has welcomed the fact that an inspection is taking place.

"After the horrendous crisis of the last few weeks, and  a year (2022) in which there were 18,000 patients left to languish on trolleys this inspection is very welcome. People across Limerick and the Mid-West marched in their thousands demanding action. We have to hope that this latest HIQA report may bring the radical changes that so many people have been calling for," he said.