More than five hundred people have attended the Emergency Department at Letterkenny University Hospital in less than the past three days.
The huge numbers has led hospital management to issue a plea to the public to consider other options before attending the hospital.
Yesterday saw 195 attendances at the Emergency Department with 186 attending on Tuesday, May 2nd.
And these huge numbers are continuing with 122 attendances to the Emergency Department as of 3pm today.
A spokesperson for the hospital said “Many of the attendances are patients who are very sick and need to be admitted to the hospital for treatment.
“There is ongoing pressure on bed availability in the hospital and we regret that many patients are currently experiencing long waiting times to be admitted from the ED to an acute bed in the hospital.”
The hospital is also dealing with significant increase in COVID-19 presentations and admissions with 19 Covid positive patients being treated at LUH with two wards in outbreak.
The spokesperson said they are committed to treating people but pleaded with people to consider other options before attending the hospital.
The Saolta spokesperson added “We are committed to treating everyone who presents at our ED but we do so strictly in order of medical priority.
“The hospital acknowledges that these delays are very difficult for patients and their families and apologises for the inconvenience and distress these delays cause.
“We continue to request that people consider other options for non-emergency care such as Out of Hours GP and pharmacies before attending an ED.”
