By Louise Doyle

CONCERN has been raised for future sustainability costs of two services at Letterkenny University Hospital after spend on their provision has been revealed.

It comes after expenditure amounted to €1,340,294 in an 17-month period for spend on private ambulances and the outsourcing of blood samples.

A total of €910,440 was spent on private ambulances for LUH in 2024, according to new figures. Meanwhile, in the first five months of this year, LUH spent €429,854 on costs for outsourcing routine blood samples to private laboratories from January 2025 to May 2025.

The figures are contained in responses, seen by this newspaper, issued to Deputy Pádraig MacLochlainn following parliamentary questions he submitted on behalf of his party colleague, Cllr Gerry McMonagle.

Deputy MacLochlainn asked the Minister for Health to confirm, in view of the lack of capacity in the laboratory department in LUH, the cost of outsourcing routine blood samples to private laboratories from January 2025 to May 2025.

A HSE spokesperson said: “The Pathology at LUH has experienced a significant increase in workload and no longer has the capacity to perform the total number of GP samples in the routine 8am to 8pm window. The only solution to this problem is additional analysers and currently LUH have no floor space in the laboratory to accommodate the additional equipment. Therefore, a small proportion of GP blood science work (5.5 per cent) is being outsourced owing to a lack of processing capacity with the Biochemistry Department to Private Providers.”

Responding to the figures, the newly re-elected Chairperson of the Regional Health Forum West Cllr McMonagle said: “I think in both responses the costs are quite high and wonder how sustainable they are for both services going forward.”