21 patients awaiting admission to LUH this morning

 
There’s been a sharp rise in the number of people awaiting admission at Letterkenny University Hospital.
Figures published this morning by the INMO show there were 21 people waiting admission this morning, seven on trolleys in the Emergency Department and 14 waiting in ward overflow areas.
LUH has released a statement as follows:
The Emergency Department at Letterkenny University Hospital remains very busy this afternoon, August 18th, with significant numbers of patients awaiting admission to the hospital. We apologise to patients and their families for these delays.
The Full Capacity Protocol has been implemented and all efforts continue to be made to identify patients who are appropriate for discharge. We have also deferred some non urgent elective procedures. We apologise to patients for the distress this deferral may cause.
Management at the hospital would like to again advise people who are attending the Emergency Department at Letterkenny University Hospital that they can expect delays. We would like to remind the public that we encourage them to attend the Emergency Department only in the case of real emergencies and they should contact their GP or GP Out-of-Hours service in the first instance.
Letterkenny University Hospital again apologises to all patients and their families for any distress caused as a result of these delays.