Saolta has confirmed that there is ongoing pressure on bed availability at Letterkenny University Hospital.
Yesterday, the hospital was the second most overcrowded in Ireland with 52 people awaiting admission there in the morning.
In a statement last night, management at the hospital confirmed that the Emergency Department was extremely busy with a high number of people attending.
There is ongoing pressure on bed availability in the hospital and management regrets that many patients are currently experiencing long waiting times to be admitted from the Emergency Department to an acute bed in the hospital.
Staff are committed to treating everyone who presents at the ED but they do so strictly in order of medical priority and apologise for the long wait times.
Given the volume of patients attending the Emergency Department, the hospital is asking the public to contact their GP during normal surgery hours or the NoWDOC GP Out of Hours service in the first instance if their health problem is not urgent.
As part of the hospital’s COVID-19 measures, they are asking that patients wait in the ED alone to help maintain social distancing. A companion will only be permitted in exceptional circumstances.
This is to minimise the risk of infection and to keep everyone safe.
The hospital is also reminding patients to please wear a face covering/mask when in the ED and to comply with any COVID-19 screening processes.
