Emergency department 'extremely busy', available beds all in use at Letterkenny hospital

Letterkenny University Hospital continues to feel strain over the volume of people attending - and all available beds at the facility are currently in use.

On Sunday morning, 38 people were at the Emergency Department of the hospital awaiting admission.

A spokesperson has said that the ED is “extremely busy with high numbers of people attending the department who need to be admitted to hospital for ongoing treatment”.

Patients who attend ED for what are deemed routine and non-urgent treatments are advised that they will experience “very long waiting times with priority given to those patients who are more acutely unwell.”.

The HSE spokesperson said: “As always, people who do require emergency care are encouraged to attend EDs where they will be prioritised.

“All available beds in the hospital are in use. 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.”

They say that hospital management acknowledges that the delays are “very difficult for patients and their families and apologises for the inconvenience and distress these delays cause”.

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This comes after over 1,000 attendees presented at the ED in the space of one week recently with over half of those self-referring.