The Emergency Department at University Hospital Galway is extremely busy today and the hospital is advising that patients who attend ED for routine and non-urgent treatment will experience very long waiting times. Yesterday’s attendance was 235, with the department currently seeing 155 presentations so far today.
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 Emergency Department to an acute bed in the hospital. As of this morning there were 45 patients on trolleys awaiting admission to in-patient beds.
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.
They continue to request that people only attend the Emergency Department at the hospital if it is an emergency situation. They ask 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.
