People are being asked to avoid going to the emergency department at Beaumont Hospital in Dublin - where possible - due to overcrowding.

In a statement issued this afternoon, a spokesperson for Beaumont says the hospital is working to relieve pressure on the emergency department.

It says the hospital has introduced further escalation procedures in recent days - including limiting admissions to urgent procedures - from Monday.

The hospital is encouraging anybody who can to make use of private health facilities for treatment of 'minor injuries and illnesses', and is also asking GPs to not send patients to the emergency department 'unless absolutely necessary'.

Ambulances are being diverted to other hospitals where possible.

Beaumont Hospital says the facility is keeping the situation under continuous review and regrets the difficult conditions faced by patients and staff.

The hospital is urging the Health Service Executive (HSE) to start allocating resources from the €25m in its service plan 'as a matter of urgency' to help address delayed discharges.

The director of nursing at Beaumont, Sheila McGuinness, says at the moment they can only deal with urgent cases.

While Lorraine Monaghan of the INMO says a long term solution to overcrowding is what is needed.

Meanwhile, the head of the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation says overcrowding at hospital Emergency Departments is a national emergency.

INMO chief Liam Doran says EDs are at breaking point - with more beds, more nursing staff and more resources needed as a matter of urgency, as patient care is being compromised.

He says the problem is the worst it's been in a decade and is being replicated in hospitals across the country:

Originally posted at 7.15am, 13/12/14