By Róise Collins
CALLS have been made to increase the frequency of a patient transport bus travelling from Letterkenny University Hospital (LUH) to Galway for medical appointments.
During Tuesday’s meeting of the Regional Health Forum West, Cllr Declan Meehan questioned why the vital service only operates three days a week.
Currently, the bus runs on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays.
However, Cllr Meehan pointed out that vascular and rapid access prostate clinics take place on both Thursdays and Fridays. Both are major reasons patients need to travel to Galway on those days.
General Manager at LUH, Sean Murphy, confirmed that the HSE is examining the possibility of expanding the service, provided there is sufficient demand.
The meeting also addressed the potential for accommodating patients travelling to Sligo University Hospital (SUH) using the same service.
Mr Murphy noted one of the challenges is that adding additional stops would delay arrival in Galway, limiting the available appointment window or require an earlier departure.
“At the minute the bus is leaving LUH at 6.30am which means for many patients that’s leaving home at 5.30am. If they live further you’re asking people to get up at 4am or earlier.”
He added that dropping patients in Sligo would result in them having to wait until the return journey from Galway, potentially leaving them waiting over 12 hours to get home.
“There are a number of logistical issues,” Mr Murphy explained.
“We are looking at how we can most effectively in a patient’s sense expand the service.”
Cllr Meehan proposed a separate bus service from LUH to SUH.
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