'If the surgical hub is not in Letterkenny, it will be a disaster for Donegal'

No decision has been made on the location of a surgical hub for the north-west, the Dáil heard today.

A letter signed by 171 Letterkenny-based doctors recently said a snub of Letterkenny University Hospital as a location for the hub was “flawed, unjustified, and deeply damaging”.

Deputies Pearse Doherty and Pádraig Mac Lochlainn raised the matter in the Dáil this morning following comments made by Minister of State, Marian Harkin, that a deal had been secured for a surgical hub to be located in Sligo.

“The information I have is very clear,” said Minister of State at the Department of Education and Youth, Deputy Michael Moynihan. “No decision has been made on the location of the north-west surgical hubs. I understand meetings were held and there was engagement with the Minister last night on this issue. 

“I hear what the Deputies are saying about the challenges in Letterkenny and Donegal, and I will bring that back to the Department and the Minister.”

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Deputy Mac Lochlainn said: “If there is to be only one surgical hub for the north-west region, a huge region extending from the top of Donegal down into Roscommon, I imagine, and that if the surgical hub is not in Letterkenny, it will be a disaster for Donegal and our services. Those are not my words but those of the consultants.

“A presentation made to TDs was extremely concerning. The Minister for Health, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, is very aware of that and I thank her for engaging at the meeting last night. We need to have absolute clarity today that no deal has been done on this.

“We need that clarity between the Minister for Health and Deputy Harkin and a public statement of clarification. If it is two surgical hubs that is fine but the Government should not play divide and conquer. It needs to get its act together on this issue.”

Deputy Doherty said: “We have heard from an unprecedented number of doctors, surgeons and consultants in Letterkenny hospital and they have told us that without the surgical hub there, they are at serious risk of losing accident and emergency services and maternity services within a short period.

“That is why they and all the politicians in Donegal have come together and made it very clear that we need to see a surgical hub delivered in Letterkenny. This would not be to the detriment of Sligo - we believe the north-west region has been left behind for far too long - but there has to be a location in Letterkenny.”

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Deputy Doherty criticised Deputy Harkin’s deal with Deputy Michael Lowry for a surgical hub in Sligo as ‘grubby’. He also asked if Minister Moynihan had approached Deputy Harkin for clarification on her comments.

Deputy Moynihan explained: “The programme for Government commits to establishing six new hubs, in south Dublin, north Dublin, Galway, Cork, Limerick and Waterford, and exploring the provision of an additional surgical hub for the north west.”

He alluded to the fact that the budget for Letterkenny University Hospital has increased by 57 per cent in the last five years, and that staff has grown by 25 per cent and 28 new beds have opened during that time.

“The Government is committed to the ongoing development of the hospital and has allocated significant resources to meet the needs of patients there,” said Deputy Moynihan.