Letterkenny General Hospital is the third most overcrowded hospital in the country today according to figures released by the Irish Nurses and Midwives Association.
Their figures, collated this morning, show that there are 21 people classified as either being treated or awaiting treatment on trolleys – a further 11 are ‘in wards’.
The only other hospitals with a worse problem are Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda and the Midlands Regional Hospital in Tullamore.
In March, the Hospital’s Manager Shaun Murphy expressed his hope that the opening of the new Emergency Department would ease over-crowding – however on a number of occasions since, the problem has worsened.
Dr Sinead O’Gorman,the Head Consultant in Emergency Medicine expressed her concerns during the official opening of the new Emergency Department:
Hospital Management has this afternoon released a statement addressing the overcrowding
‘The Emergency Department at Letterkenny General Hospital is extremely busy today with above average numbers of very ill patients requiring admission to the hospital.
The public are asked to avoid attending the Emergency Department if possible and to contact their GP or GP Out of Hours services in the first instance.
Non-emergency cases attending the Emergency Department will experience lengthy delays.
The hospital regrets any inconvenience to patients and their families and is taking all steps to deal with the situation.’
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