Once again the Emergency Department at Letterkenny University Hospital is extremely busy this week.
The hospital has admitted a significant number of ill patients, many of whom remain in the ED, awaiting a bed.
The Full Capacity Protocol has been implemented and all efforts continue to be made to identify patients who are appropriate for discharge.
The hospital has deferred a number of elective non-urgent procedures.
Hospital management say they regret the inconvenience and distress the long delays cause patients and their families.
A spokesman said: “The hospital prioritises those in most need of care and this may lead to delays for less urgent patients.
“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.
“We are committed to treating everyone who presents at our ED but we do so strictly in order of medical priority and apologise for the long wait times currently.
“We would like to thank our staff who are working extremely hard at this time.”
