Management at Cork University and the Mercy University Hospitals are asking people to only attend the emergency departments in the case of a genuine emergency.
The statement comes after the nursing union says the two city hospitals are experiencing levels of overcrowding which is "out of control" leaving their members in "dangerous" work environments
Overcrowding records were broken in the two hospitals yesterday as they were 92 people waiting on trolleys in CUH and 40 at the Mercy
In statement issued to RedFM News management at both hospitals say long standing issues with acute inpatient capacity has led to long waits for admission and say they are working on resolving the issue with the HSE
In the meantime they are asking members of the public to only attend the EDs in the case of a genuine emergency and to explore all other medical options available to them
Speaking to RedFM News Liam Conway of the INMO says overcrowding in the two city hospitals warrants a national response from the Health Service Executive.
"We need to ensure that we're better prepared for for weekends and bank holiday weekends, there needs to be appropriate medical cover on the weekends, there needs to be appropriate access to diagnostics at the weekends.
"We need to up the ante in terms of getting additional bed capacities across Cork City. We need to look at our bed capacity and again in Cork University Hospital and the Mercy University Hospital.
"We simply do not have enough acute beds, and we simply do not have enough beds in the community."
