University Hospital Kerry has cancelled all elective surgeries with the exception of time critical cancer operations until Saturday at the earliest.
In a statement the hospital said the Emergency Department is exceptionally busy and has been coming under what it describes as continuing pressure with high numbers presenting with a variety of complex needs in recent days and weeks.
Management at the hospital said the decision to cancel surgeries was only taken after all alternative options were exhausted and apologised to the public and patients for the inconvenience and distress caused.
All affected patients will be contacted directly by the hospital.
The statement stressed that the Emergency Department remains open 24/7 , however, people presenting for non-urgent care should expect to experience long delays and members of the public are asked to only attend in the case of a genuine emergency, advising that, where possible, a GP or Southdoc out of hours service be consulted in the first instance.
People are asked to consider alternative care and treatment options and keep ED services for the patients who need them most. Non-essential referrals should be deferred and the alternatives considered.
The decision comes after several appeals in recent weeks from UHK for people only to attend ED in an emergency while it broke records for the numbers of patients on trolleys last month.
