By Róise Collins
A group of 78 General Practitioners (GPs) in Donegal have penned a letter to the Health Minister outlining their concerns regarding patient safety in the emergency department at Letterkenny University Hospital (LUH).
The letter highlighted “huge patient safety concerns” including the morbidity and mortality associated with leaving patients in waiting rooms for long periods of time untreated, or in ambulances at the door, or on trolleys awaiting admission.
They said that patients are scared to visit the emergency department because of the lengthy waiting times.
Some patients are even refusing to attend the emergency department because they would “rather take their chances” and stay at home.
In the letter the GPs stressed that their concern is not with the standard of care their patients are receiving, but that patients are not receiving timely access to that care, leaving them at risk.
They also acknowledged the efforts being carried out to improve the conditions, but outlined that they are not happy with the proposed scale and ambition of these plans.
“In simple terms, the system is broken.
“We no longer have faith that the current system can be fixed and appropriately managed without outside intervention, support and resources,” the letter reads.
The letter calls for the Health Minister and senior officials to launch an urgent external review into the emergency department at LUH.
They said the situation needs someone external to cut through the bureaucracy and “put the patient back at the centre of
what we are all trying to achieve”.
“We need to be able to send our patients to our local emergency department with confidence that they will not wait for 24 hours on a hard chair to be seen.”
The letter concluded with a plea to the Health Minister.
“We are in this job to advocate for our patients, if you are too, then please listen to our demand for support, before it is too late and more of our patients suffer adverse outcomes.”
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