The Emergency Department at University Hospital Galway is under significant pressure today with high attendances and long waiting times.
The hospital is also managing the ongoing impacts of high rates of flu.
The ED has been extremely busy over recent days, with 265 attendances yesterday. As of this morning, 50 patients are on trolleys awaiting admission to an inpatient bed.
Due to the pressures on the site and the lack of bed capacity, the hospital is postponing some elective procedures.
Urgent, time sensitive cases are being prioritised. Patients are being contacted directly if their procedure is being postponed.
The high number of people attending who need to be admitted for ongoing treatment means that there is pressure on bed availability.
This is resulting in significant delays being experienced by patients in the Emergency Department who are waiting for a bed to become available on a ward.
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.
The hospital say they are committed to treating everyone who presents at the ED but will 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.
They continue to request that people only attend the Emergency Department at the hospital if it is an emergency situation and have asked that people attend their GP or out of hours service in the first instance if at all possible.
The Roscommon Injury Unit is also open from 8am to 8pm to treat a range of injuries in both adults and children over five years of age.
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.