INDEPENDENT TD for Donegal, Thomas Pringle, has asked Government what’s being done to ensure that Letterkenny University Hospital is adequately staffed and resourced.
Addressing the Dáil today, Deputy Pringle said: “I have long been raising my concerns regarding staff retention, recruitment issues and the continuous scaling back of essential services in Letterkenny University Hospital.
“I raised this very concern in February and now this week we are seeing yet another resignation of a consultant in Letterkenny due to, in his words, ‘impossible working conditions’.
“He is a consultant urologist who is known for his excellent quality of care. He has resigned from this post due to lack of resources, reactive policies and impractical and onerous on-call demands,” he said.
The deputy raised the issue under questions on policy or legislation.
Deputy Pringle said: “How long does this have to go on? How many resignations will it take before this government actually intervenes? And is the intention to run down the hospital altogether?”
He asked: “What exactly are you going to do to ensure that Letterkenny University Hospital is adequately staffed and resourced to avoid any further consultant resignations?”
In his response, Minister for Health, Stephen Donnelly, said there is a new consultant contract coming in that he believed would help. He said they were also looking at whether there were additional supports that Letterkenny needed because of its location.
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