The full capacity protocol remains in place at Mayo University Hospital, and management are apologising to patients and their families for any distress caused as a result of delays in the Emergency Department.

According to the Irish Nurses & Midwives Organisation, there are 27 patients on trolleys today at the Castlebar hospital, with 592 people on trolleys today at hospitals across the country.

Following another busy night, management say the Emergency Department at Mayo University Hospital continues to be extremely busy today, with significant numbers of patients awaiting admission to the hospital.

In a statement, the Saolta Hospital Group says ongoing efforts are being made to safely discharge patients and use nursing homes to facilitate early discharges, while day case procedures are being cancelled and injuries are being fast-tracked out of the main ED where it’s safe to do so.

Even with these measures in place, management say the current situation is likely to continue for the rest of this week, and they regret that patients are experiencing significant delays in being transferred from the Emergency Department to a hospital bed.

Again, the public are being advised only to attend the Emergency Department in the case of real emergencies, and first to contact their GP.