LOCAL medical professionals campaigning for a surgical hub at Letterkenny University Hospital have expressed serious concern following confirmation from Minister Marian Harkin that her lobbying efforts secured the hub for Sligo as part of her support for the current Government.

Minister Harkin confirmed on Highland Radio with Greg Hughes that the decision to site the surgical hub in Sligo formed part of her negotiations during the Programme for Government.

Responding to the revelation, Dr Padraig McGuinness, one of the doctors behind the campaign for a surgical hub in Letterkenny stated: “It’s all making a little more sense now. The objective evidence—from clinical need to geography, patient population, volume of day services, and co-location with surgical specialties—clearly shows that Letterkenny University Hospital is the optimal location if only one surgical hub is to be delivered. This decision now appears to have been made purely on political grounds, at the expense of the 160,000 patients living in Donegal. This was one of the deals done to secure support from Deputy Lowry’s independents.”

Dr Aine Keating, Consultant in Emergency Medicine at LUH, added: “We simply cannot let this stand. We are due to meet the Minister again on Tuesday evening and will present further data. If Sligo has indeed been granted a hub as part of a political agreement, then in the interests of fairness, equity of access, and burden of need, we believe a second surgical hub must be delivered concurrently at Letterkenny University Hospital.”

The group of doctors will meet with Minister for Health, Dr Jennifer Carroll MacNeill, tomorrow evening to continue discussions and present new clinical and demographic data supporting their campaign.

Dr McGuinness concluded: “If Sligo is granted a hub on political grounds and Letterkenny is not, resulting in worse outcomes for Donegal patients, we will be left with no choice but to publicly demonstrate the strength of local opposition and concern.”