'Unacceptable and dangerous': 171 Donegal doctors blast surgical hub snub at LUH

A group of 171 Donegal doctors have voiced their concern at what they say is a critical threat to patient care and health equality in the North West.

The senior doctors, who are based at Letterkenny University Hospital or are local GPs, have asked the Minister for Health, Jennifer Carroll MacNeill, for an urgent meeting.

In an unprecedented move for such a large volume of medics to make a collective stance, they have issued a series of stringing criticisms at health chiefs.

Letterkenny University Hospital has been excluded from consideration as the location for the new surgical hub planned by the HSE. The surgical hub is expected to be based instead at Sligo University Hospital - a more that clinicians in Donegal say is “flawed, unjustified, and deeply damaging”.

Dr. Padraig McGuinness, a Fanad-based GP, said: "The decision to overlook LUH ignores both population need and geographic logic. Donegal has a larger population than the combined areas of Sligo, Leitrim, South Donegal, and Cavan. Many of our patients would face round trips of five hours or more to access elective surgical care in Sligo. That’s unacceptable and dangerous."

Consultants at Letterkenny University Hospital contest that they can point to long-standing underfunding and neglect of the hospital.

They argue that: LUH receives half the per-patient funding compared to SUH; LUH has the longest waiting times among all model 3 hospitals; and in the 2025 HSE Capital Programme, LUH was allocated just 0.3% of the national capital budget - a figure they call "scandalous" given the hospital’s patient load.

Dr. Louise Moran, Consultant in Intensive Care and Anaesthetics at LUH, said: "Patients in Donegal already face some of the worst cancer survival rates in the country due to late presentation and access issues. To bypass Letterkenny again is not only medically indefensible — it’s a direct hit on patient safety and regional equality.” 

The HSE has floated a proposal for an ambulatory care centre in LUH, but doctors argue this is an inadequate substitute lacking ring-fenced funding, staffing plans, or timelines. 

Mr Michael Sugrue, Consultant General Surgeon at LUH, said: “We need real surgical infrastructure — not vague promises.

“Without adequate surgical resources, we simply cannot attract or retain the consultants we need. This decision risks the future of general surgery in Donegal and the long-term viability of LUH as a model 3 hospital.”

Consultants and GPs across Donegal are united in their demand for a face-to-face meeting with Minister Carroll MacNeill within the next month and a moratorium on final decisions regarding the hub’s location until a “fair, evidence-based comparison is completed.

They are also calling for an independent review of the HSE’s rationale for selecting SUH over LUH.

Dr McGuinness said: "This isn’t just about a building or a budget line. 

“It’s about whether Donegal patients are treated as equals in our health system. Right now, they’re not.”

The group wrote to the Minister in April regarding  the future of surgical services and asked for a meeting during her visit to the hospital.

While that was not facilitated, their concerns were hand-delivered to the Minister while she was at LUH.

In the letter, they said: “The numbers do not stack up; the population of Sligo/Leitrim/ South Donegal and Cavan combined is 114,459. The population of Donegal is 159,227. 

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“The people of Sligo,Leitrim and Cavan have access to Mayo, Roscommon, Galway and Cavan University Hospital. The population of Donegal only has access to LUH, and the distance to other hospitals is prohibitive. respectfully urge you to commission an independent review of the evidence supporting the location of the surgical hub in the North West.’

It is not the first time that a group of doctors made a stance in Donegal. In 2023, 78 GPs wrote to the then Minister for Health Mr Stephen Donnelly calling for urgent action at the emergency department at LUH.