Public urged to consider all care options this Bank Holiday weekend 

HEALTH services across the West are asking people to explore all avenues of care before presenting at A&E this October Bank Holiday weekend.

With high attendance numbers expected at emergency departments, the HSE is asking people to consider other methods of care including their GPs, pharmacists and out of hours services before presenting at emergency departments.

Westdoc Out of Hours GP services will be open from 6pm today (Friday October) 27 until 9am Tuesday October 31.

As always, people who do require emergency care are encouraged to attend EDs where they will be prioritised.

Health staff across hospital and community settings will continue to work together over the weekend to ensure all available beds across the hospital and community are in use.

Bank Holiday weekends can be a busy time for our hospitals and emergency services. This means that patients who attend EDs for routine and non-urgent treatment will experience very long waiting times over the coming weekend.

John Fitzmaurice, Chief Officer Community Healthcare West, added: “We would ask everyone to consider all healthcare options this bank holiday weekend. If you urgently need to see a GP out of hours, please contact Westdoc on 0818 360 000 from 6pm Friday 27th October to 9am on Tuesday 31st October.  Westdoc provides urgent out-of-hours GP care for patients of participating practices in Galway, Mayo & Roscommon. The GP out-of-hours service is for patients needing urgent medical care. It is not a substitute for the Emergency Ambulance Service who are the appropriate service to deal with medical emergencies where they arise.”

Tony Canavan, CEO of the Saolta Group, said that emergency care will be provided to those who needed.

“If you need emergency care we will be there to provide it, but if it is not an emergency please consider all other care options in the first instance.  We expect our emergency departments will be busy over the bank holiday and we would ask for patience from the public as we prioritise treating those in need of urgent care.”

The Roscommon Injury Unit is also open to treat injuries that are unlikely to need hospital admission and are more convenient and often quicker than an emergency department.

Injury units can treat the following: broken bones to legs, from knees to toes, broken bones to arms, from collarbone (clavicle) to fingertips, all sprains and strains, minor facial injuries (including oral, dental and nasal injuries), minor scalds and burns, wounds, bites, cuts, grazes and scalp lacerations (cuts), small abscesses and boils, splinters and fish hooks, objects stuck in eyes, ears or nose, minor head injuries (fully-conscious patients, who did not have loss of consciousness or vomit after the head injury).

Roscommon Injury Unit is open seven days a week from 8am to 8pm to treat a range of injuries in both adults and children over five years of age. You don’t need an appointment or a GP referral.

For information on when you should go to the ED visit https://www2.hse.ie/emergencies/the-emergency-department-ed/   or you can get advice on a number of illnesses that can be treated at home at https://www2.hse.ie/conditions/common-illnesses/

The HSE’s mychild website also has lots of information regarding childhood illness and viruses

Many local pharmacies will be open over the weekend including Bank Holiday Monday to help with minor illnesses. Find out more about the services offered by your local pharmacy here: https://www.hse.ie/eng/services/list/2/pharmacy/