The HSE is encouraging the public to explore alternative care options before heading to crowded emergency departments over the Easter Bank Holiday weekend, to help prevent “longer” waiting times, reports RTE.
Grace Rothwell, HSE’s National Director of Access and Integration, noted that hospitals are “extremely busy”, with emergency departments experiencing “significantly increased numbers of patients”.
According to a statement from the HSE, individuals with non-urgent conditions might experience extended wait times, depending on the “number of patients attending and the severity of patient illnesses”, reports RTE.
Although everyone who arrives at an emergency department will receive treatment, the HSE emphasized that the “sickest and most urgent” cases will be attended to first.
The HSE acknowledged that staff “regret that anyone might experience long delays in an ED” and urged the public to consider alternatives such as GPs, pharmacists, injury units, and GP Out of Hours services beforehand, reports RTE.
“Any patient requiring emergency hospital treatment should not delay and should come to the ED, or dial 999 or 112 in an emergency,” said the HSE.
During an interview on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, Ms Rothwell stated that the system is “very busy” and that delays are “inevitable” when large numbers of people visit emergency departments simultaneously, reports RTE.
She acknowledged that while the HSE “don’t get it right” everywhere every day, progress is being made in the right direction.
“Whilst today unfortunately we don’t meet everybody’s need, we certainly meet a lot of need, reports RTE.
“On an average day, there’s 4,500/5,000 people presenting to the emergency department and we admit less than a thousand of those, so roughly 75% of people are seen, treated and discharged on any given day,” Ms Rothwell added, reports RTE.
Dr Michael O’Connor, National Clinical Advisor and Group Lead for Access and Integration at the HSE, reminded the public that injury units across the country operate every day of the week and do not require prior appointments.
He emphasized, however, that individuals with serious health conditions should not hesitate to go to an emergency department.
“We have systems in place across our busy emergency departments, which involves triage, identifying those who are most critically ill,” he said, reports RTE.
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