Over one thousand people on hospital trolley beds last month in Letterkenny 

Over one thousand people were left on hospital trolley beds at Letterkenny University Hospital (LUH) during the month of November, Teachta Pearse Doherty told the Dáil on Tuesday night. 

Teachta Doherty said when Fine Gael took office back in 2011 there were 81 patients without access to LUH in November, last month it was 1,108: “That’s a disgraceful figure and shows how out of control the health service has become under the watch of Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil. This level of overcrowding is not only dangerous for patients but also staff,” he said. 

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On Tuesday, LUH announced it was cancelling elective surgeries due to pressure on bed availability. 

“We listened to our local radio station where a mother, Tanya, spoke about her son Oisín who has cerebral palsy. They waited for 32 hours in the hospital without receiving a bed. Eventually, so tired and distressed at seeing her son distressed, she took him home only to be told later that he had pneumonia.She only had praise for the doctors and nurses who are run off their feet,” he said. 

The Derrybeg-based deputy said that overcrowding has created conditions that have deepened a recruitment and retention crisis: “This vicious cycle needs to be addressed,” he said.