LETTERKENNY UNIVERSITY Hospital this morning has the highest number of patients in the country awaiting admission.
The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) reports that there are 38 patients without a bed at LUH today, up from 31 yesterday.
Of the 38, 17 are on Emergency Department trolleys.
The figure is the highest anywhere in the country today, with 35 at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Drogheda; 34 at Midland Regional Hospital, Mullingar; 32 in Midland Regional Hospital, Portlaoise; and University Hospital, Limerick having 30 patients awaiting admission.
A data report, compiled by the Health Service Executive (HSE) showed that almost four in 10 patients who attended emergency departments were sent by their GPs between January and November last year.
Of those patients who were referred by their GPs, just under one in four were admitted to hospital.
A total of 58pc of patients who presented to Letterkenny General Hospital’s emergency department in Co Donegal in November were GP-referred.
