'Busy' Mullingar hospital warns of delays in ED

Mullingar hospital has appealed to the public to think about all their options if unwell today, as both the emergency department and hospital are today "very busy".

"The hospital has admitted a lot of seriously ill patients over the weekend with a variety of complex healthcare needs," a spokesperson for the Ireland East Hospital Group stated today.

The spokesperson revealed that some patients are experiencing long wait times, for which the hospital apologised.

"The Full Capacity Protocol has been implemented; our consultants are doing additional ward rounds to facilitate discharges and we are working with the community to discharge patients where it is appropriate to the community," the spokesperson said.

"We are asking people to think about all their care and treatment options, the length of time you may be waiting in ED should you not require urgent care and we would ask that people keep our ED services for the patients who need them most," she continued.

However, she stressed, anyone seriously injured or ill would be assessed and treated as a priority.