Updated 11.16pm
EMERGENCY SERVICES ARE working to clear flood waters from Letterkenny General Hospital this evening – almost exactly a year after the building was extensively damaged by torrential rain.
Access to the Emergency Department is limited, and water has leaked into the reception areas of the hospital, according to a statement issued this evening.
The hospital has asked patients not to present themselves at A & E tonight, but to consult their GP, or travel to Sligo Regional Hospital for the time being.
Members of the public have posted extraordinary images of the extent of the flooding in and around the hospital this evening.
The statement made this evening, on behalf of Letterkenny General Hospital and the West/North west Hospitals Group, reads as follows:
After torrential rain in the Letterkenny area earlier this evening, there has been some flooding at Letterkenny General Hospital.
As the car park and roadway are flooded, access to the Emergency Department is very curtailed.
There is a low level of flooding due to water leaking into the reception and administrative areas at the Emergency Department but clinical areas have not been affected.
Patients already in the Emergency Department and hospital inpatients have not been affected.
To expedite the clean up, the Emergency Department has gone off call until midnight, after which it is expected full services will be restored.
As the Emergency Department is inaccessible due to external flooding, patients are being asked to attend their GP or Nowdoc or to go to Sligo Regional Hospital or Altagelvin.
Remarkably, the hospital was partially evacuated almost exactly one year ago, when torrential rain caused significant flood damage to 40% of services there.
Originally published 9.54pm
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