By Róise Collins
THERE are growing concerns about the lengthy waiting times for patients at Letterkenny University Hospital.
During Tuesday’s meeting of the Regional Health Forum West, Donegal councillor Declan Meehan highlighted significant discrepancies when compared to other hospitals in the region.
According to figures provided to Cllr Meehan, urgent patients waiting for haematology appointments in Mayo are seen within a week, while in Donegal, the wait time for urgent cases extends to four to six weeks.
“If we take Mayo as an example, urgent patients are seen within a week, while in Donegal the time is four to six weeks,” Cllr Meehan said.
The disparities extend to non-urgent cases within the haematology departments as well.
“In Mayo, all other patients are seen within one month, while in Donegal it is an average wait time of nine months,” he added.
This stark contrast is also seen when comparing Donegal to Galway and Portiuncula, both of which have waiting times of three months.
Cllr Meehan expressed further concerns over the situation at LUH, suggesting that it continues to be neglected when it comes to healthcare resources.
“Yet again we have evidence of much longer waiting times at Letterkenny University Hospital, which indicates further that it is the poor cousin of the western region when it comes to HSE management and administration of resources,” he said.
“I think that is really concerning for our patients.”
“I don’t know how many more indicators we need in relation to Letterkenny University Hospital before we take a massive step back and take a look at what is going on,” added Cllr Meehan.
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