Many HSE services in Cork and Kerry were impacted today by Storm Barra and the Red Weather warning.

Our priority is to protect the safety of both the public and our staff. For that reason, we cancelled many appointments and services as it would not be safe for the public to travel to these appointments. We are also ensuring the safety of our staff by making sure they are “sheltering in place” and not moving around during the Red Weather warning.

We hope to be back to normal services in full by tomorrow, but we will continue to assess the weather outlook and any advisory notices this evening and overnight.

We will post any updates on hse.ie/stormbarra

The National Ambulance Service has stressed that it will always prioritise emergency calls during this weather event but is urging the general public to think carefully before calling. The response to emergency calls may be hindered by road conditions and the number of emergency calls at any particular time. Personnel will do their utmost to reach those in greatest need of our emergency services.

In summary, the impact on other services includes:

• The South/South West Hospital Group (S/SWHG) is advising that all elective inpatient and outpatient appointments and procedures in Cork University Hospital, Bantry General Hospital, Mallow General Hospital, Mercy University Hospital, South Infirmary Victoria University Hospital and University Hospital Kerry were cancelled with the exception of time critical cases. These appointments will be re-scheduled as soon as possible.
• All vaccination centres and Covid-19 test centres across Cork and Kerry were closed today. We will reschedule appointments for the people affected. Anyone with Covid-19 symptoms waitingfor a test should continue to self-isolate.
• Appointments at health centres and primary care centres were in general cancelled – we have asked people not to travel to any appointment without checking with the team or service first.
• Schools immunisation appointments did not go ahead today, and again will be rescheduled.
• We have rescheduled some visits by Public Health Nurses, community mental health teams and HCSAs (home helps). However, some essential visits will go ahead (if it is safe to do so).Contingency plans have been put in place to ensure that people have alternative supports in place if visits cannot take place. We will reassess this throughout the evening, and visits will recommence as soon as it safe.
• In our community hospitals and other residential units, critical staff were given the option of arriving early at work this morning, so that they were not travelling during the periodof the Red Weather warning.

Our priority is the safety of our staff and ensuring that essential care continues. We wish to thank other agencies including the county councils, the fire services,Civil Defence and the Irish Red Cross for their work today in enabling some of our critical staff to get to work, or to reach vulnerable patients.

We repeat the advice from other agencies that the public should continue to stay indoors for the duration of the weather warning, and we ask the public not to undertake any unnecessary travel on Tuesday, 7^th December until after the weather warning ends (expected to be after 9pm).

Finally, detailed contingency plans are in place to ensure the continuity of services at such critical times. We thank our staff for the work and planning they have undertaken to make sure that essential services are maintained and that those using our services are kept safe.

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