‘A meeting isn’t a solution’ - Pringle on Minister’s Letterkenny Hospital visit

Independent TD for Donegal Thomas Pringle has welcomed the news that Minister Stephen Donnelly is to visit Letterkenny University Hospital this week and said the visit must lead to urgent actions that address the concerns of GPs and consultants.

Minister for Health Donnelly will visit Letterkenny University Hospital on Friday, November 24. His visit will come three weeks after the Performance Management and Improvement Unit (PMIU) began a review into all systems across the hospital.

“A meeting isn’t a solution," Deputy Pringle said. "It should be the start of finding a solution. I welcome the fact that Minister Donnelly is coming, and I understand he is going to meet some of the GPs and consultants who wrote to him while he’s here. Fair play to the GPs and consultants for holding out and pushing for the minister to come to Donegal. It’s important that he sees and hears first-hand some of the critical difficulties they face.

“There was a follow-up letter sent last week from consultants that outlined the deficits Letterkenny University Hospital faces and they need to be addressed urgently.

“The deficit of beds in the hospital system is shocking. Recruitment and retention at Letterkenny University Hospital is an ongoing problem. The funding allocation per patient in Letterkenny is the lowest of any of the hospitals in the Saolta Group as well, despite Letterkenny University Hospital treating nearly 26,000 inpatients in a year.

“We’re seeing the result of continuous underfunding of the health services by successive Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael governments. We need to see the Minister agree to actions that will address these deficits.”