Over the St Patrick’s Day long weekend, health officials in the West are encouraging the public to consider all care options before attending Emergency Departments.
Emergency Departments (EDs) continue to be extremely busy with high numbers of patients attending who require admission.
This means that patients who attend EDs for routine and non-urgent treatment will experience very long waiting times over the coming weekend.
Just on the morning of Thursday, March 16 there were 60 patients on trolleys at University Hospital Galway, and another 16 at Portiuncula Hospital.
Tony Canavan, CEO of the Saolta Group said, “Anyone who suspects they may be facing an emergency situation should of course come to the Emergency Department and they will be seen and treated.”
“However, we would ask those who may be in a non-urgent situation to help our staff through a challenging time by looking at other healthcare options where possible.”
The Saolta Hospital Group is appealing to the public to help ensure hospitals are best able to look out for patients who need urgent and emergency care.
Breda Crehan-Roche, Chief Officer Community Healthcare West added, “If you urgently need to see a GP out of hours, please contact Westdoc on 0818 360 000.”
“Westdoc provides urgent out-of-hours GP care for patients of participating practices in Galway, Mayo & Roscommon.”
The Roscommon Injury Unit treats injuries that are not life-threatening, such as broken bones, dislocations, sprains, wounds, scalds and minor burns. Details of Injury Unit locations and what they can and cannot treat are on hse.ie/injuryunits
