Cork's Mercy Hospital urges patients to avoid A&E amid 'surge'

It is the seventh such appeal from the Mercy University Hospital so far this year, which said on Wednesday it was experiencing high demand for its ED services due to an increase in the attendances of acutely ill patients

Mercy Hospital said its ‘escalation plan’ had been fully implemented to deal with the high number of attendees and the resulting demand for inpatient beds. Picture: Dan Linehan

One of Cork’s busiest hospitals has again urged people to avoid its emergency department (ED) if possible following a surge in patients.

It is the seventh such appeal from the Mercy University Hospital (MUH) so far this year which said on Wednesday it was experiencing high demand for its ED services due to an increase in the attendances of acutely ill patients.