Tallaght University Hospital is experiencing a high number of attendances at its Emergency Department (ED) and have activated their Full Capacity Protocol.
With high attendances and high rates of admissions this puts pressure on the ED and also the Hospital as there is a shortage of beds. Discharge from the Hospital continues to be a challenge with a high number of patients waiting home care packages or a place in a nursing home.
“The Hospital works continuously to free beds for admitted patients, but there is a clear underlying requirement to develop additional onsite bed capacity given growing and ageing population. Following completion of an external strategic analysis review which was submitted to the HSE, we are waiting for sign off on this to move to the next stage in the process to develop a new 72 single bed facility at the Hospital to address these additional capacity requirements”.
“We are committed to treating everyone who presents to our ED however we do so strictly in order of medical priority. Given the volume of patients currently attending the Emergency Department, we regret there are lengthy delays and long wait times for those who do not need urgent treatment. We are asking the public to consider alternative care options before attending the ED as unfortunately people with less urgent complaints will experience long wait times”.
“The Hospital regrets any delay a patient of any age experiences whilst waiting in our Emergency Department, patients are prioritised according to clinical need. We thank the public for their cooperation in this regard”.
