A PREGNANT woman has told of her frustration after she missed a scan appointment in Letterkenny University Hospital (LUH) because there were no available car parking spaces.
The woman, who did not wish to be named, had an appointment for her first trimester screening and blood tests in recent days.
However, despite leaving her home in plenty of time to make the car journey to LUH for her morning appointment, when she arrived at the hospital she found there were no parking spaces. By the time she got parked, the woman told of how she missed her original appointment slot by only a matter of minutes and had to endure a two-hour wait.
“I was driving around and around the car park and there were absolutely no car parking spaces. I was really panicked by the time I eventually got parked and into the hospital, only to be told I had missed my appointment and would have to wait for two hours for the next available appointment.
“Following my scan, I then had to get my bloods taken and because I had missed my original scan time slot I was delayed in getting my bloods taken. It was really busy, and so I was waiting quite a long time.
“It was very frustrating because it wasn’t my fault that I was late, it was due to the lack of parking spaces.”
We asked the HSE if there are measures in place to address the lack of availability of car parking spaces, particularly during bottleneck times. In a statement, a spokesperson said there are increased pressures on car parking spaces.
“Letterkenny University Hospital (LUH) has seen an increase in the range of services offered, staffing levels and activity in recent years, which has led to pressure on car parking spaces. We understand the challenge this presents to some staff and patients.”
The spokesperson revealed talks are underway to extend the hospital’s car parks.
“We are in discussions with HSE Capital and Estates to extend our car parks and we do hope to progress these matters in early 2026.”
The Donegal News also asked the HSE how many maternity scan appointments were missed or late due to reported parking issues in 2025. However, we were advised that “LUH does not collect data relating to the number of maternity appointments have been missed or late due to reported car parking issues”.
