DONEGAL patients are in
some cases receiving less than 24 hours’ notice to
attend outpatient appointments in Dublin, a TD has
said.
Deputy Charlie McConalogue said some people have
told him they’ve been told to take the appointments
because they don’t know when another one will be
available.
“I have been contacted by a number of concerned
constituents who have received a call to attend an
outpatient appointment in Dublin with less than 24
hours’ notice. This type of policy is completely
unacceptable.
"I have written to the Minister Leo Varadkar asking
him to put a minimum notice protocol in place for
patients at Letterkenny University Hospital to
ensure that patients whose appointments are
outsourced are given adequate time to make
arrangements to attend their appointment," he said.
The Inishowen Fianna Fáil deputy said over 5,500
patients are currently waiting six months or longer
to be seen by a consultant in Letterkenny - a third
of whom have been waiting over a year or more.
“Letterkenny University Hospital is currently
referring hundreds of patients to Dublin for
outpatient appointments with many of them getting
less than 24 hours’ notice of an appointment. It is
completely unreasonable to expect sick patients to
travel hundreds of miles to attend an appointment at
short notice, especially when that appointment could
be provided at Letterkenny University Hospital if it
was sufficiently resourced," he added. |
