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Letterkenny Hospital delays
"alarming and cruel"
17.02.15
MORE than 1,400 people
have been waiting over two years for an outpatient
appointment at Letterkenny General Hospital, it's
been revealed.
And there is a total of some 4,927 people in the
county currently waiting to be seen.
The figures, published by the National Treatment
Purchase Fund, reveal a 550% surge in the number of
patients being forced to wait over a year to be
seen. Local T.D., Charlie McConalogue, described the
crisis as "unbelievably cruel" to patients in the
county.
“The speed at which these waiting lists are growing
is frightening. In the space of one year, the
numbers waiting for an outpatient appointment have
jumped from 755 in January 2014 to 4,927 last month.
"Letterkenny now has the largest number of patients
waiting more than two years for an appointment in
the whole of the country. This is an unprecedented
increase and is completely unacceptable," added the
Fianna Fáil T.D. |
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Letterkenny General Hospital. |
He said: “Thousands of
people across Donegal are being forced to wait years
for a first appointment with a consultant, before
being transferred onto another lengthy waiting list
if a follow-up treatment or procedure is required.
The situation has become so unsustainable that some
consultants have closed their waiting lists and are
now referring patients back to their GPs."
He said the delays were spreading to all hospital
departments and were "extremely distressing" for
people with illnesses.
"They are facing into months, and in thousands of
cases, years of anxiety before their illness is
either diagnosed or treated.
"This is unbelievably cruel and there is an onus on
(Health) Minister Leo Varadkar to take control of
the situation. Letterkenny General is already under
immense pressure as it attempts to deal with this
waiting list crisis and I have grave concerns that
unless urgent action is taken, these appalling
delays will put patient care and outcomes at risk." |
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