THE staffing crisis at Letterkenny General Hospital is over – for now.
The HSE says ambulances are now starting to take patients back to our local hospital after a day when some were transferred to Sligo due to a lack of staff.
The HSE said: “For a period of 7.5 hours yesterday (Monday 04 August from 13.00 to 20.30), the ambulance service was asked to bypass Letterkenny General Hospital and bring medically stable patients to Sligo Regional Hospital. Medically unstable patients, walk-in patients, paediatric and orthopaedic patients were not affected and these patients were all seen at Letterkenny General Hospital.
“Local GPs were also asked to refer medically stable patients to Sligo Regional Hospital from 09.00 August 4 to 09.00 August 5.
“The hospital had to take this step in the interests of patient safety as it was not possible to have the required level of NCHDs in the hospital to cover the day shift yesterday, Monday August 4.
“We regret any inconvenience caused to patients and their families. Normal service has been restored.”
The statement added: “Members of the public are reminded to keep the Emergency Department for emergencies and to contact their GP or GP Out of Hours services in the first instance.
“We would like to thank the public and our GPs, the ambulance service and our colleagues in Sligo Regional hospital for their cooperation.”
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