‘An 88-year-old woman had been on a hard seat all day long, waiting for care’

An 88-year-old woman was just one of those who faced some severe issues at Letterkenny University Hospital in recent days.

Patients had to wait up to 30 hours in the emergency department before being seen by a medical professional, while overcrowding, long waiting hours in the emergency department and backed-up ambulances are persistent matters of concern.

On Tuesday and Wednesday evening, eight ambulances were left outside Letterkenny Hospital due to an overcrowded emergency department and a severe shortage of hospital beds. 

Sinn Féin TD, Pádraig Mac Lochlainn described the ongoing crisis at the Emergency Department as “utterly unacceptable” when he raised the matter in the Dáil. 

Mac Lochlainn then challenged the Minister for Health, Stephen Donnelly to act on the calls made by the GPs and Hospital Consultants in Donegal who are campaigning for urgent actions to be implemented at the hospital and a fair allocation of government expenditure to end years of funding discrimination. 

“At Letterkenny University Hospital, eight ambulances were backed up outside and patients were in the back of those ambulances rather than being cared for in the hospital,” Deputy Mac Lochlainn, said while speaking in the Dáil.

“This is not a rare occurrence. A week previously a similar number of ambulances were outside. I am sure the Minister will agree that this is utterly unacceptable. 

“I received a report late last night that an 88-year-old woman had been on a hard seat all day long, waiting for care, as had a 79-year-old man”. 

“Recently the Minister, Deputy Donnelly, came up to Donegal and met with GPs and consultants who had been seeking such a meeting for weeks. 

“When will he act on the proposals they made which are crucial to the hospital,” MacLochlainn added.

As of Monday last, the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) revealed that Letterkenny University Hospital was the second most overcrowded hospital in the country with 57 admitted patients without a hospital bed.

“Nearly 60 patients went without a bed at LUH on Monday with 21 patients on trolleys in the ED and 36 patients without a bed elsewhere in the hospital,” Teachta Pearse Doherty said.

“This is the highest number of any hospital in the State bar University Hospital Limerick.

“In the first 10 months of this year, over 4,600 patients were admitted to LUH without access to a bed – that is a 400 per cent increase compared to 2013 a decade ago.

“The INMO has been warning that dangerous levels of overcrowding were imminent, and today’s figures are a dire warning of things to come without urgent action.

“Earlier this year, 78 GPs in Donegal took the unprecedented step of writing to the government to tell them they fear they are putting their patients at risk when they send them to the Emergency Department.

“Eleven consultants further echoed these sentiments when they warned the hospital is facing a ‘service collapse’.

“The government have failed to heed these and my own warnings. Instead, they made the conscious decision to underfund the health service in the recent Budget.

“A decision that was heavily criticised by both the CEO of the HSE and the most senior civil servant in the Department of Health.

“Yesterday’s trolley figures underline the difficulties faced by patients and staff at LUH.

“The Government must end the recruitment embargo on essential HSE posts and reverse its disastrous decision to deliberately underfund the health service in 2024.

“Our hospitals across the State are 1,000 beds short and need at least 300 beds a year on top of this to keep up with population growth and our ageing population.”

Although Monday recorded the highest number of patients requiring admission, this was not exclusive, as on Tuesday 47 patients were left without a hospital bed. Wednesday saw 38 without and Thursday  31 patients without a hospital bed in Letterkenny University Hospital.

The issue of overcrowding and long waiting hours continues to persist at Letterkenny Hospital, “all the while, the CEO of the HSE, the most senior civil servant in the Department of Health and even the fiscal council has warned that our health service is underfunded for next year,” Teachta Doherty said.

“This is all happening under your watch. It is absolutely disgraceful. The health service is at crisis point.”