Portiuncula University Hospital has advised that patients who are attending the Emergency Department for routine and non-urgent treatment are experiencing very long waiting times this week.
The past few days have seen very high attendances at the Emergency Department, with 102 patients attending on Tuesday and a similar number yesterday.
Many of these patients are acutely unwell and have complex needs requiring admission, and this is putting pressure on bed availability at the hospital.
Significant delays are being experienced by patients in the ED who are waiting for a bed to become available on a ward.
The hospital acknowledged that long wait times are very difficult for patients and their families and apologised for the distress these delays cause.
They said that 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.
They also requested that people only attend the Emergency Department at the hospital if it is an emergency situation, and 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.
