Tallaght Hospital in Dublin has appealed to the public to attend their GPs in the first instance as the number of patients waiting for admission hit a record 57 Thursday morning.
The hospital said it was currently experiencing a very high number of emergency attendances, which was resulting in longer patient waiting times.
The hospital had 42 patients on trolleys and 15 more waiting in wards of admission to a bed, according to the daily count by the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation.
“Emergency department patients are prioritised according to clinical need, which may result in patients with minor illnesses or injuries experiencing delays,” a spokeswoman said.
Tallaght is currently battling a long-running superbug infection, which has impacted on hospital services.
Nationally, there were 517 patients waiting for admission this morning, down from Wednesday’s near-record of 601.
According to the HSE, today’s trolley figures are 26 per cent worse than the same day last year.
