Bernard Gloster has said the University Hospital Limerick is now a “fundamentally safer hospital” than it was previously. 

The hospital has never been far away from the headlines in recent years - almost always for the wrong reasons. 

In 2022, teenager Aoife Johnston died in UHL after presenting with symptoms of sepsis. It was 12 hours before she was seen by a doctor and 14 hours before drugs were administered to her. 

An inquest into her death was told by staff that the hospital’s emergency department was “like a war zone”. 

Aoife Johnston, who died at University Hospital Limerick, in December 2022.

Other patients have said they waited days for treatment, often in agony on trolleys. 

On The Claire Byrne Show, the outgoing CEO of the HSE described it as his “absolute eternal regret” that any patient in the city spent time on a trolley while waiting for medical care.

 “I'm from Limerick, I live in Limerick, my family go to that hospital,” he explained. 

Despite this, Mr Gloster said UHL has “turned a significant corner”, although there is a “long way to go”. 

“First and foremost, we did build the 96 beds and despite the quotations of different numbers every day… the numbers [of people on trolleys] have improved, that's the first thing,” he said. 

“The second thing is the way that hospital is now organised and operates and run over the seven days of the week, making it fundamentally different to what was there before. 

“The third thing is, I believe, the clinical and administrative and nursing leadership there have really grasped the range of issues that had arisen, very much crystallised around the time of IFA and indeed others. 

“All of the markers would say it's a fundamentally safer hospital.”

University Hospital Limerick. Picture by: PA Archive/PA Images

Mr Gloster was appointed HSE CEO in December 2022 and announced last year that he would leave the job this March. 

Reflecting on his time at the top of the health service, Mr Gloster said it was the “most privileged job in the public service”. 

“But it's also an exceptionally busy, demanding, all-consuming job,” he said. 

“It is a seven day a week job - I think partly my own way of working is about that. 

“But the job is exceptionally busy and it's very full-on. 

“I made a decision last year that, while I totally enjoy doing the job, while I feel I've brought something to it, I felt I wasn't going to have the gas in the tank to do five years.” 

Future of the HSE

Mr Gloster predicted that change will be “good for the organisation as well” and that reform of the health service will continue. 

“It's a bit like they say, the old metaphor, flying the plane and trying to paint it at the same time,” he said. 

“But it's not impossible, I think we continuously make progress.

“I think what you do is you pace the reform and you pace the expectation of it. 

“I've certainly found that we've made some very good progress in a number of key areas.”

Main image: Bernard Gloster and UHL. Pictures by: Rolling News and Alamy.