The sheer volume of people presenting to the Emergency Department at Tipperary University Hospital is putting the Clonmel facility under significant pressure.
There was a 23% increase in the numbers attending the A&E last month compared with January 2023.
In an effort to ease pressure management at the hospital are asking people to consider visiting their pharmacist, GP, Caredoc or the Injuries Unit in Cashel.
General Manager at TUH Maria Barry says those who do not need immediate care can expect a lengthy wait.
“Everybody that attends is triaged and you’re seen then as per your triage category. Ones, twos and threes are a higher and more urgent triage category than the fours and fives. So the fours and fives, if you’re triaged at that level well then you can expect you will be waiting a considerable period because the more critical are going to be seen before you. But yes we have to see all patients that present.”
There are 11 patients on trolleys at TUH today according to the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation.
UHL in Limerick is by far the most overcrowded hospital in the country with no beds for 138 people who have been admitted.
Nenagh Hospital has 7 patients without a bed this afternoon.
