University Hospital Galway is extremely busy today, resulting in pressure on bed availability in the hospital.

The Saolta Hospital group says it regrets that patients are currently experiencing long waiting times to be admitted from the Emergency Department to an acute bed in the hospital.

They have a high number of patients waiting for admission on trolleys in the ED and in both the Acute Medical Unit and Acute Surgical Unit, and apologise saying “we know these delays are very difficult for our patients and their families”.

According to today’s INMO trolley watch figures there are 19 patients on trolleys today at Galway University Hospital.

There are 22 patients on trolley at MUH today, and that’s down from 36 yesterday.

27 patients are on trolleys waiting for admission to Sligo University Hospital today

Saolta is reminding the public to only attend the Emergency Department (ED in the case of real emergencies. If your health problem is not an emerge  ncy you should contact your GP during normal surgery hours or the WestDoc GP Out of hours service, in the first instance.