A LACK of blood-testing facilities has led to spiralling costs in excess of €1 million at Donegal’s largest pathology department.
Capacity at the blood lab in Letterkenny University Hospital (LUH) has not improved in over two years, the Health Service Executive (HSE) has revealed.
But it is under more pressure than ever, according to the Executive.
A spokesperson told the Donegal News that LUH “capacity [is] the same as 2024” but “demand has continued to increase”.
A year ago, the HSE announced that outsourcing of general practitioner (GP) blood samples to a private lab in Dublin cost over €1m for the 12 months up to March 2025.
In responses to our queries, it has now confirmed that costs have continued to rise and reached €1,147,576 for the period since then.
The situation at the hospital’s blood science lab first emerged in March 2024.
A HSE spokesperson said: “Outsourcing of GP blood specimen testing to a private provider due to the shortfall in analytical capacity for the year 2025 incurred additional charges of €1,147,576.”
She also issued details to the Donegal News of attempts by the HSE’s estates and procurement section to end outsourcing by acquiring extra space.
The spokesperson said: “LUH pathology department processes blood tests for both the community (GPs and enhanced community care programmes) and inpatients and outpatients at LUH.
“But, since Q1 2024, it has had insufficient capacity to meet demand from the primary care services.
“The shortfall in processing capacity has remained the same since early 2024 while the demand has continued to increase.
“Due to the increased volume of requests for the blood science department – both from in-house and GPs – there is a need to increase capacity in the blood science department in LUH.”
LUH’s pathology department on Floor B performs routine lab services and specimen tests 12 hours a day from 8am to 8pm every Monday to Friday.
PROCUREMENT
The spokesperson added: “LUH management and the pathology service management have been working with HSE estates and procurement over recent years to try to secure a solution to allow these samples to be processed in house.
“In order to progress a proposed extension, a Strategic Health Infrastructure Framework (SHIF) alignment form has been completed.
“This is a required part of the HSE estates approval process.”
The situation at the hospital’s blood science lab first emerged in March 2024.
Letters were sent to local GPs and stated that a lack of capacity meant blood samples could not be tested on the same day, which would render some unsuitable for analysis.
In August 2025, the HSE revealed in a response to a parliamentary question from Donegal TD Pearse Doherty that the outsourcing bill for blood testing from March 2024 to March 2025 was €1.2m.
Due to a shortfall in analytical capacity last year at LUH, “additional charges” of over €1.1m for outsourcing was billed to the HSE.
ROUTINE LAB SERVICES
LUH’s pathology department on Floor B performs routine lab services and specimen tests 12 hours a day from 8am to 8pm every Monday to Friday.
GP blood samples are partially outsourced, according to LUH’s latest pathology department user manual, which was published in July past.
It states that “biochemistry and haematology requests from GPs are forwarded” for testing.
Samples are collected at 5.30pm to arrive in the Dublin lab by 11pm.
The HSE manual states that the aim is to provide “timely laboratory results”.
It adds: “It is your right as a service user of the HSE to make a complaint if you believe that standards of care, treatment, or practice fall short of what is acceptable.”
“The Pathology Department performs regular surveys of user satisfaction.
“The aim of the user satisfaction survey is to achieve continuous improvement in all aspects of the Pathology Department resulting in improved clinical effectiveness.”