A DONEGAL doctor has rejected claims that lengthy outpatient appointment times for children to be seen at Letterkenny University Hospital is solely to do with the Covid-19 pandemic.
Almost 900 children are waiting for an appointment at Letterkenny University Hospital, according to latest figures.
Nationally, almost 20,000 children have been waiting on hospital waiting lists for a year-and-a-half.
Some 860 of those are waiting 18 months on an outpatient appointment at LUH.
According to figures by the National Treatment and Purchase Fund (NTPF), a total of 2,201 children and 16, 942 adults are waiting for an outpatient appointment at LUH.
Health Minister Stephen Donnelly said the Covid-19 pandemic continues to have an impact on hospital care, but local doctor, Dr Denis McCauley disagrees. Dr McCauley, of the Irish Medical Organisation, said the problem has been “going on for years”.
He said: “I think these figures don’t surprise general practitioners and doctors really.
“This was a situation that was present before Covid. The Covid crisis has made this worse but it’s a representative of underfunding of the hospital-based system for many decades and we are living with this on a day-to-day basis.”
Pressure
Dr McCauley said the issue has been putting pressure on GPs.
“Quite a proportion of our time is taken up with patients coming, trying to get themselves seen quicker. They know they are on a waiting list and they come to see if we can do anything for them.
“It is very demoralising for them and it is demoralising for us. We have a number of sore, sick people who are getting patently very ill in front of our eyes who, unfortunately, are having to wait far too long.”
Minster Donnelly said €350 million is being invested in reducing waiting lists this year.
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