Halloween Bank Holiday Weekend from St. Luke’s General Hospital Carlow/Kilkenny

The HSE Dublin South East and St. Luke’s General Hospital Carlow/Kilkenny are urging the public to consider all care options this Halloween Bank Holiday Weekend.

People are reminded to consider other methods of care including their GPs, pharmacists and Caredoc out of hours services before presenting at Emergency Departments (EDs).

This Halloween Bank Holiday Weekend, as always, people who do require emergency care are encouraged to attend EDs where they will be prioritised. When there is a large volume of ED attendances, patients are prioritised in terms of clinical need and wait times for non-urgent care can be lengthy.

Patients presenting with non-urgent injuries may face longer waiting times, depending on the number of patients attending and the severity of patient illnesses at the time in the ED. Staff at the hospital do all they can to see patients as quickly as possible and regret that anyone might experience long delays in an ED.

• For information on when you should go to the ED visit https://www2.hse.ie/emergencies/the-emergency-department-ed/.
• 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 https://www2.hse.ie/my-child/ website also has lots of information on children’s illnesses, see https://www2.hse.ie/conditions/colds-coughs-children/.”

The HSE’s partners in Caredoc out of hours GP co-operative are also open 24 hours on Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Bank Holiday Mondays. Caredoc can be contacted on (0818) 300 365 or (059) 913 8100. See www.Caredoc..ie

Many local pharmacies will also be open on particular days 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/

As with any time of year, it’s also important to look after your mental health, in addition to physical health. If anyone has any concerns in relation to their mental health, there are a number of resources supported by the HSE that you can turn to. There’s a free text service on 50808 and it’s available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It is a safe space to share anonymously, where trained volunteers will engage with you. You can also check out www.YourMentalHealth.ie or Freephone our information line on (1800) 111 888 any time, day or night.

The HSE Dublin and South East wishes everyone a happy, healthy and safe Halloween Bank Holiday Weekend.