HSE officials have urged people to use “all avenues of care” ahead of the upcoming Bank Holiday weekend, as Emergency Departments in the North West are near breaking point.
The plea comes as Letterkenny University Hospital is already struggling to cope with a beds crisis in its Emergency Department, with a temporary building being set up to try and ease pressure on its overcrowded ED and over-worked medical staff.
In a media statement, the HSE and Saolta have urged people to explore all options before presenting at an Emergency Department this weekend, including the use of out-of-hours services like NowDoc.
The NowDoc service in Donegal is set to be open from 6pm on Friday the 27th of October all the way through to 8am on Tuesday October 31st to help deal with a potential bank holiday surge.
However, all patients who require emergency medical care are being encouraged to attend the Emergency Department, where they will be given priority of care.
The CEO of Saolta, Tony Canavan, says:
“We are working with our community colleagues to provide the best possible service to our local population over the Bank Holiday Weekend. If you need emergency care we will be there to provide it, but if it is not an emergency please consider all other care options in the first instance.”
“We expect our Emergency Departments will be busy over the bank holiday and we would ask for patience from the public as we prioritise treating those in need of urgent care.”
