Hospital continues request for public to avoid visiting A&E

Beaumont Hospital continues request to the public and GPs to avoid or delay visit to Emergency Department

Beaumont Hospital has continued its request to the public and GPs to avoid visits to the Emergency Department (ED) where possible.

Pointing to "extremely difficult conditions faced by patients and staff", the hospital stated that it is working to relieve pressure on the ED and has introduced further escalation procedures in recent days including limiting admissions to urgent procedures from Monday.

"Beaumont Hospital has welcomed the recent allocation of €25m in the HSE Service Plan to begin to address delayed discharges," a statement read.

"This includes €8m to increase access to short stay beds across the Dublin area, the provision of intensive home care packages, and extra resources for the Nursing Home Support Scheme (Fair Deal).

"The hospital has urged the HSE to commence the allocation of these resources as a matter of urgency and to provide priority to Beaumont in the introduction of measures which will alleviate pressures on the ED."

The hospital is keeping the situation under continuous review.