By Paul McElwee
LETTERKENNY University Hospital has been singled out by a local councillor as part of a wider criticism of cancer treatment waiting times in the HSE in the West and North West.
Independent Cllr Declan Meehan, who represents Donegal on the Regional Health Forum, spoke after receiving the information on waiting times at a meeting of the Forum on Tuesday afternoon.
Cllr. Meehan had requested information regarding the amount of time taken between a decision being made or consent granted on offering treatment to cancer sufferers and when their treatment commenced.
The answer given by the HSE stated that guidelines ‘recommend and endeavour to treat patients within 15 working days.’ However, it emerged that only 31 per cent of cancer patients in LUH were receiving their treatment within this timeframe. This figure was withering in comparison to other hospitals around the country, with Galway University Hospital treating 62 per cent of patients within the recommended timeframe, 76 per cent in Sligo, 78 per cent at Portincula whilst Mayo was able to treat 100 per cent of patients in the stipulated 15 working days. The HSE confirmed that the average waiting time at LUH was 22 days.
Cllr Meehan believes that patients of LUH are being left behind and, as he puts it, treated as ‘second class citizens’.
He said, “It is staggering that 100 per cent of patients can be seen within three working weeks in Mayo, but not in Donegal. All evidence shows that for every four-week delay in treatment commencing there are significantly negative effects on the patients’ outcomes. This simply means that cancer patients in Donegal are subject to higher risks and poorer outcomes, and this is unacceptable.”
Cllr Meehan went on to say that the recent addition of four more treatment bays at LUH as an extension to the day ward on the in-patient ward was ‘clearly not good enough’ and urged for real progress, especially as Ireland has the second highest rate of new cancer diagnoses in the EU and the third highest cancer mortality rate in Western Europe.
He accused the HSE of ‘leaving Letterkenny behind’ because of its remoteness to the healthcare centre of power, remarking “Substandard care based on geography in 2025 is unacceptable. How many times does this need to be repeated and reiterated to the HSE? How many examples does the HSE need of LUH and Donegal being left behind before they take meaningful action?”
LUH Manager Seán Murphy stated that cancer treatment waiting times was an area of priority for the management of LUH, and that a specific task group is in place to try and bring down the wait times for treatment by increasing capacity in the hospital and Cllr. Meehan responding that he would continue to raise this issue until such time that people in Donegal, by virtue of their location, would not be at such a significant disadvantage.
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