Ambulances held at Beaumont
Thursday, 13 November 2008 16:53Beaumont Hospital in Dublin has confirmed it was forced to hold three ambulances at its Accident and Emergency department, because of a shortage of beds.
Up until around 12.30pm, a fourth ambulance had to be held at A&E, where the Irish Nurses' Organisation says there are 37 patients waiting.
Beaumont Hospital has put the figure at 27 patients on trolleys and ten waiting in an 'admissions lounge'.
The hospital described the situation as busy, but said that the need to hold ambulances was not unprecedented.
One ambulance with a patient was held at 5am but was allowed leave before 9am.
A second ambulance was held from 7.30am until 9am. The third ambulance was held between 8.30am and 9am.
The INO has reported a high number of patients in many other Dublin A&E departments today.
The HSE is due to issue its statistics later this afternoon.
