Children's Health Ireland (CHI) has said it is prioritising emergency, urgent and time-sensitive procedures and care, in an attempt to reduce the number of people coming into the country's children's hospitals.

CHI is made up of the three children's hospitals at Tallaght, Crumlin and Temple Street, as well as the paediatric outpatient and urgent care centre at Connolly Hospital in Blanchardstown.

It has taken the decision to prioritise certain types of care due to the rapid increase in COVID-19 cases within the community.

Urgent and time-dependent procedures will continue to be carried out and the paediatric emergency services at the three children's hospitals will remain open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The urgent care centre at Connolly Hospital will remain open from 10am to 5pm, Monday to Friday.

However, most outpatient clinics will be moved to virtual or telephone clinics, unless specified by the consultant that a face-to-face review is needed.

CHI will contact parents/guardians directly to advise if a child's care arrangements have been postponed. If you are not contacted by your hospital about a change in arrangements, you should attend as normal.

This decision will be reviewed on a weekly basis, taking into account the level of COVID-19 in the community.

"The decision to curtail some services is to ensure our hospitals remain safe for patients and families, and to protect staff in order to manage hospital care in the coming weeks," CHI said.

CHI Crumlin has a dedicated phoneline for any queries on these changes. Call (01) 409 6117, Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm.