Representatives for the facility cite “extremely difficult conditions faced by patients and staff” as reasons to avoid the emergency department at Beaumont if at all possible.
The same sources have stated that the hospital is working to relieve pressure on the department and has recently introduced a policy of limiting admissions to urgent procedures only from Monday.
A further €25m have been allocated in the HSE Service Plan to begin addressing the so-called ‘delayed discharges.’
Chronic understaffing and emergency department overcrowding has slowly but surely become endemic in the Irish hospital system, with waiting periods of 6-7 hours being commonplace.