LETTERKENNY General Hospital has apologised to elderly Donegal patients who are being treated at private hospitals in Dublin for the inconvenience caused.
It follows a report in today’s Irish Times in which an unnamed GP complained to the newspaper about elderly patients having to travel to the capital for treatments.
“Can you imagine the uproar if people in Donnybrook who were in their 70s and 80s were told to travel up to six hours for an appointment in Donegal?” the GP told the newspaper. “I can’t see it happening.”
However the Saolta hospital group, which includes Letterkenny General Hospital, said it has had to outsource appointments in respiratory medicine, general medicine and orthopaedics to Dublin hospitals.
A spokesman said that where local hospitals did not have the capacity to see sufficient patients to meet the targets, patients were offered care at an alternative hospital in either the public or the private sector.
He said that “every effort was made to offer patients an appointment in the hospital as close as possible to their home”, but this wasn’t always possible.
There had been some complaints that elderly patients were given only one or two days notice of their appointments in Dublin.
“In many cases it was necessary to review medical records to ensure that the patient was suitable for treatment in the other hospital before contacting the patient,” said the Saolta spokesman.
He said the hospital wished to apologise for any inconvenience caused.
Under a direction from health minister Leo Varadkar patients are not supposed to be on waiting lists for more than 15 months.
It’s understood many patients are now being given appointments in Ballykelly Hospital in Co Derry and the Beacon Hospital in Dublin.
