Over half of LUH attendances last week were self-referring as A&E ‘extremely busy’

The Emergency Department at Letterkenny University Hospital (LUH) is extremely busy with high numbers of people attending the department who need to be admitted to hospital for ongoing treatment.

Last week, LUH had 1,089 attendances at ED with over half of those self-referring. The hospital continues to request that people only attend the Emergency Department at the hospital if it is an emergency situation. For non-urgent conditions please attend your GP in the first instance and please consider all care options.

The hospital is advising that patients who attend ED for routine and non-urgent treatment will experience very long waiting times as those patients who are more acutely unwell will be seen first. 

As always, people who do require emergency care are encouraged to attend EDs where they will be prioritised.

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.

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For mild illness or non-urgent conditions there are a number of treatment options open to you - being prepared and knowing where to go will mean that you will get treated more quickly and will ease pressures on the healthcare system. Your local out of hours GP service and pharmacies are open for expert advice and treatment. Many GP’s across the country are providing additional in-person sessions for respiratory/acute consultations, details of these additional clinics can be found on their websites or by contacting the practice directly.

Anyone with breathing difficulties or chest pain should attend the emergency department for treatment or call 112/999 in an emergency, and patients with non-life-threatening conditions should seek healthcare in the community.

All available beds in the hospital are in use. As of this morning there were 17 patients on trolleys in the Emergency Department awaiting admission to an inpatient bed, whilst a further 30 other patients are being accommodated in escalation areas throughout the hospital - according to the INMO trolley watch. Patients are facing long waiting times to be admitted from the Emergency Department to a bed on a ward. 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.

All visitors to the hospital will be required to practice good hand hygiene and use hand gel regularly, face masks are available for use throughout the hospital.

People should check the HSE website for useful advice on common illnesses such as colds, coughs, flu, earache and sore throats and keeping well.

Keeping up to date with your vaccines is the most important thing you can do to avoid serious illness from flu and COVID-19. Find your nearest clinic here

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