The Mid West Regional Hospital in Limerick has been forced to cancel a number of elective operations and day procedures following a “sudden surge” in patients attending its emergency department.
The Health Service Executive has appealed to people with non-urgent medical needs to attend their GPs instead of presenting at the hospital’s emergency department.
The HSE said a rise in emergency attendances at the hospital yesterday saw some 36 patients on trolleys at the emergency department by 5.45pm, resulting in “an unprecedented demand for in patient beds”.
Extra ward rounds took place yesterday to release beds through discharging patients who could safely be sent home.
The situation at the hospital improved steadily during the evening and at 8am this morning the number of patients waiting on trolleys in the emergency department had been reduced to four.
However, some medical and surgical day procedures and elective operations due to take place today have been postponed as well as a number of medical outpatient clinics.
The hospital said cancellations notified amounted to 21 day ward surgical procedures, two angiograms and two broncoscopies and 45 outpatient appointments.
It said the hospital was operating at full capacity and all overflow areas were fully in use.
A HSE spokeswoman said last night that patients were now being notified of the cancellations.
“These are choices we do not make lightly. Every patient is important to us but in the current situation we have to make hard decisions,” the hospital’s chief executive Ann Doherty said.
“We very much regret the inevitable delay and inconvenience but dealing with the situation in the Emergency Department must take priority,” she said.
Doctors and hospital authorities have so far not been able to explain the rise in the emergency attendances at the hospital.