LETTERKENNY University Hospital (LUH) has reported significant strain on its Emergency Department in recent days following an overwhelming surge of patient presentations.
On Thursday, January 8, there were 162 patient presentations, with 44 arriving by ambulance.
A high portion of these patients presented after 6pm, leading to a backlog in ambulance offloading.
At one point, the hospital was managing 12 ambulances waiting to offload patients, four of which were still waiting to be offloaded after midnight, the HSE has revealed.
Senior Management from LUH and the National Ambulance Service (NAS) worked in coordination throughout the day to manage the situation.
“Throughout the day Senior Management from both LUH and NAS were in constant contact addressing the matter and maintained effective communications and patient priority to ensure all patients were treated according to clinical acuity,” a HSE spokesperson said.
The spokesperson also reiterated that no patients were left waiting in ambulances and that all were brought into the Emergency Department upon arrival before awaiting handover to the ED team.
According to Trolley Watch figures released by the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO), 53 patients were waiting for beds at LUH on the same day.
Of these, 18 patients were waiting on trolleys in the ED, while a further 35 patients were waiting for beds in wards elsewhere in the hospital.
The HSE spokesperson told the Donegal News that they regret that any patient faces a wait to access their services, including those who have to wait on trolleys or in the Emergency Department beyond an acceptable timeframe.
“Improving patient experience times is a priority for all HSE West and North West Hospitals and we are committed to ensuring our most vulnerable patients receive safe, timely and high-quality care in our EDs,” the spokesperson added.
Several factors have been contributing to the pressure on the hospital including a high volume of patients requiring admission, a seasonal spike in respiratory illnesses and an overall increase in ED attendances. This has led to very high demand on hospital services across the country.
“As experienced in other hospitals, the Emergency Department at Letterkenny University Hospital has been extremely busy over the past week.
“It is expected that the pressure will continue over the coming days and we would urge the public to use alternative healthcare services for treatment such as GP, GP Out of Hours and pharmacies when appropriate,” the HSE spokesperson said.
