LETTERKENNY University Hospital is dealing with an outbreak of Covid-19 while the emergency department is extremely busy with high numbers of people attending in recent days.
On Thursday 146 people attended the Emergency Department and there are currently 80 patients in the ED with eight patients waiting to be admitted.
In a statement this afternoon Saolta Health Care group 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.
“There are currently nine Covid-19 positive patients being treated at LUH with one ward in outbreak.
“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.”
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