Tallaght University Hospital has asked people to avoid its A&E due to overcrowding.
Tallaght University Hospital has seen high attendances and high rates of admissions places at its emergency department this week, with photos obtained by Dublin Live appearing to show that cubicles have been set up for patients as they wait to be examined by doctors.
One Dublin man who visited the hospital claimed that he waited "24 hours" to be assessed. Speaking to Dublin Live, Richie Elliot said that he had an incident at work and went to get help at Tallaght University Hospital, where he was shocked to see overcrowding in the emergency department.
He said: "When I arrived here I noticed 200 people sitting on chairs and lying down on the floors, it was quite busy. There are people waiting two to three days.
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"I came in to Tallaght Hospital at 7pm on Wednesday night, when I first came in I went to reception to give my details then I waited eight hours to see the triage nurse. And from there we were told to go back and wait to get our bloods waiting another eight hours, from then we are still in the waiting area to see another doctor to see if we are going to see a top doctor."
Richie claimed that he was in Tallaght Hospital "literally 24 hours" waiting to be seen to, and that he saw "horrific things" on Wednesday night. He said: "Tallaght Hospital needs to react and the HSE needs to get on board straight away, if there's people out there who have problems speak up and get them out. This is a serious matter, not only for people like myself but this could be your family in here."
He also appealed for the HSE to act "before it is too late." When contacted by Dublin Live, a spokeswoman for Tallaght University Hospital confirmed that the hospital is is experiencing a high number of attendances at its Emergency Department and that they have activated their Full Capacity Protocol.
A spokeswoman for Tallaght University Hospital said: "Tallaght University Hospital is experiencing a high number of attendances at its Emergency Department (ED) and have activated their Full Capacity Protocol. With high attendances and high rates of admissions this puts pressure on the ED and also the Hospital as there is a shortage of beds.
"Discharge from the Hospital continues to be a challenge with a high number of patients waiting home care packages or a place in a nursing home. The Hospital works continuously to free beds for admitted patients, but there is a clear underlying requirement to develop additional onsite bed capacity given our growing and ageing population.
"Following completion of an external strategic analysis review which was submitted to the HSE, we are waiting for sign off on this to move to the next stage in the process to develop a new 72 single bed facility at the Hospital to address these additional capacity requirements.
"We are committed to treating everyone who presents to our ED however we do so strictly in order of medical priority. Given the volume of patients currently attending the Emergency Department, we regret there are lengthy delays and long wait times for those who do not need urgent treatment. We are asking the public to consider alternative care options before attending the ED as unfortunately people with less urgent complaints will experience long wait times.
They added: "The Hospital regrets any delay a patient of any age experiences whilst waiting in our Emergency Department, patients are prioritised according to clinical need. We thank the public for their cooperation in this regard."
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