Letterkenny University Hospital is advising of high attendances and long wait times at the Emergency Department.
The Emergency Department at LUH has experienced very high levels of attendances this week, saying there is significant pressure on bed availability.
Yesterday, 159 patients attended the ED, and the hospital is seeing similar high numbers today.
Many of these patients are very sick, frail and elderly and need to be admitted to the hospital for treatment.
Management say some patients are waiting a long time to be admitted to a bed. As of this morning there were 17 patients on trolleys awaiting admission to in-patient beds.
Every effort is being made to discharge patients who are ready to go home so that beds will become available for patients who need to be admitted, at the earliest opportunity.
In addition to these pressures, LUH is managing five outbreaks of respiratory illnesses (flu and COVID-19). Visiting is limited in wards affected by outbreaks and visitors to all other areas of the hospital should be mindful of public health advice.
Sean Murphy, LUH Hospital Manager is appealing to the public to consider all care options before attending the ED. He says as always, they are committed to treating everyone who presents at the ED but we do so strictly in order of medical priority.
The hospital says Emergency Departments are for people with a serious injury or life-threatening emergency, and those with less urgent needs will be waiting a long time to be seen. Management continue to request that people consider other options for non-emergency care such as Out of Hours GP and pharmacies before attending an ED.
