The Emergency Department at Letterkenny University Hospital has been extremely busy over the past few days, Saolta reports, with unusually high numbers patients presenting for treatment. Over the weekend 224 people attended the Emergency Department.
A statement from the hospital today said that pressure on bed availability is resulting in long delays in the Emergency Department. There are currently 14 patients on trolleys in the ED waiting for a bed and eight in-patients in Day Services.
In addition the hospital is seeing a significant increase in COVID-19 cases, as of 8am this morning there were 18 patients with COVID-19 being treated in the hospital.
The ongoing pressure on bed availability has also resulted in some elective procedures being postponed and patients are being contacted directly if their procedure is being postponed.
All available beds are in use, Saolta said. “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,” a spokesperson said.
“The hospital acknowledges that these delays are very difficult for patients and their families and apologises for the inconvenience and distress these delays cause.
“The hospital is committed to treating everyone who presents at the Emergency Department; people who are seriously injured or ill are assessed and treated as a priority and those who do not require urgent care may be waiting longer. If your health problem is not an emergency you should contact your GP during normal surgery hours or the NoWDOC GP out of hours service, in the first instance.”
