'This is the right thing for Donegal and the right thing for the north west'

The Minister for Health, Jennifer Carroll MacNeill, said the decision to construct a surgical hub in Letterkenny is the "right thing for Donegal".

Fine Gael Minister Carroll MacNeill was speaking outside Letterkenny University Hospital (LUH) today after a decision was finalised to establish surgical hubs in both LUH and Sligo University Hospital.

The debate over the location of a north-west surgical hub has been ongoing for the past few months. A letter outlining the need for the hub to be based in Letterkenny was signed by 171 Donegal-based doctors, who raised concerns at a potential snub in favour of Sligo.

Letterkenny University Hospital will now see the development of a new two-theatre surgical hub and two new minor operating procedure rooms beside the existing hospital building, along with the addition of 30 ambulatory day oncology treatment chairs, 15 of which are new and 15 which are replacements.

The surgical hub will be able to provide small day case surgeries, such as tonsils removal, and procedures including steroid pain injections and treatment for carpal tunnel syndrome.

When asked by DonegalLive to give an estimated timeline on the delivery of the Letterkenny surgical hub, Minister Carroll MacNeill said: “Well that’s sort of a question of local factors, and planning and tendering. What we have in this site is going to be an onsite, on-campus development. In some ways that makes it a little bit easier.

“I’m also conscious that the Department of Public Expenditure, my colleague Jack Chambers is relaxing some of the guidelines so I expect this to be the case that tests them and to really push forward in terms of what we can do differently in the delivery of infrastructure. Jack and I are working closely on that. So I hope to see good progress, good development in Letterkenny because of both of those factors.

“At the end of the day, we still have to tender. We have an advantage here in Letterkenny which is that it’s an on-campus development. In Sligo it’s a little different, it’s just off campus and that presents some slightly different challenges.

“I do expect and hope to be back here within the period of my office, within maybe two years, I’m going to set as a target, to be back here opening that.”

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The Minister also addressed recruitment and retention concerns in LUH, saying that it is “difficult” to fill posts in Letterkenny and across the country.

Tony Canavan, Regional Executive Officer for HSE West added: “We’ve made really good progress in terms of recruitment at Letterkenny University Hospital and across hospitals, but there are still areas where there are challenges, particularly with regards to the surgical hubs.”

Mr Canavan also said the ambulatory centre is a “really important part of the cancer services here onsite.

“It increases the capacity and it replaces some of the existing capacity. That’s really important because to be able to give people oncology treatments locally, closer to where they’re living is very important for the people of Donegal. There are other elements of our cancer services that we need to tackle as part of the development control plan for the site overall and we’ll take that into account.”

The Minister commended the work of the doctors and healthcare campaigners lobbying for the hub in Letterkenny.

“I think all of those meetings were very, very important, not just for understanding the need today, but understanding how surgery is developing and changing, understanding the different demographics in the development of this region. 

“In particular, geographical pressures and also seeing how impactful it is to deliver services locally, as we see the Errigal hub just across the way. So I would say every time you listen, and engage and talk, it makes an impact.

“This was the right decision, not because of a series of meetings, but because from a data perspective and from a planning for the future perspective this was just the right decision. It’s not anything political. This is the right thing for Donegal and the right thing for the north west, and I have hope that we will see the benefit of these new surgical hubs delivering for people to get quicker surgeries within a very short time.”

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Minister Carroll MacNeill last visited Letterkenny in May to view the new 110-bed Letterkenny Community Hospital development and the Emergency Department and the Haematology/Oncology ward. She also met with healthcare advocates for diabetes and cancer services during this visit.

“I want people to have surgery as close to home as possible,” said Minister Carroll MacNeill. “We are so serious about Letterkenny, we are so serious about Donegal and we are so serious about the north west. We are not just making announcements today for the immediate, we are making announcements for the long term.”