There are almost 50 patients waiting on trolleys at Letterkenny University Hospital this morning including two children under the age of 16.
There are 14 patients on trolleys in the emergency department and 33 patients without beds elsewhere in the hospital.
It is the second day in a row when trolley figures at the hospital have been very high with nearly 60 patients waiting on a bed yesterday.
Speaking about the figures Donegal TD Pearse Doherty said: “Yesterday’s trolley number figures are shocking and serve as a wake up call for the Government and its management of our health service.
“Nearly 60 patients went without a bed at LUH yesterday; with 21 patients on trolleys in the ED and 36 patients without a bed elsewhere in the hospital.
“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 percent increase compared to 2013 a decade ago.
“The INMO have been warning that dangerous levels of overcrowding were imminent, and today’s figures are a dire warning of things to come without urgent action.”
Letterkenny University Hospital.
“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,” added Deputy Doherty.
“11 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.
“In Sinn Féin’s Alternative Budget we put forward a plan to deliver 1,800 additional inpatient beds over the next 3 years, and to increase theatre capacity to drive down waiting lists and improve access to care.
“That is what is urgently needed to tackle overcrowding, stop the wholesale cancellation of planned appointments, and reduce long emergency department waiting times.”
Receive quality journalism wherever you are, on any device. Keep up to date from the comfort of your own home with a digital subscription.
Any time | Any place | Anywhere
SUBSCRIBE TO CURRENT EDITION TODAY
and get access to our archive editions dating back to 2007(CLICK ON THE TITLE BELOW TO SUBSCRIBE)