Donegal Deputy Thomas Pringle has today called on the Minister to fund expansion of renal dialysis services in LUH after receiving confirmation from the HSE no plans exist to create a second Renal Dialysis Unit for LUH.
Deputy Pringle says this is despite demand for renal dialysis on the rise for Donegal and the Northwest.
The HSE responded to Deputy Pringle’s query saying that while there are no plans for the construction of a new unit, a business case was made for further enhancement of the existing Renal Unit in LUH. However, the business case which was submitted to HSE Estates for costings is unlikely to lead to any development of existing services this year, according to the HSE.
Speaking on the issue, Deputy Pringle said: “I am disappointed that no funding has been made available for a second Renal Unit, but I am even more disappointed to find out that the HSE’s business case for expansion of existing services is not predicted to be developed this year despite the growing need for greater capacity of these services in Donegal.
“It’s clear that funding for hospital expansion is so tight that any expansion let alone a second Renal Unit is far from achievable. We could be waiting years for any such expansion to commence.
“For that reason I am calling on the Minister to make funding available for the expansion of existing services in the context of this year’s Budget. We cannot wait another few years for any development to commence as demand is on the up.
“It’s not good enough for Donegal which has experienced a chronic lack of investment in health infrastructure Donegal must be prioritised in the next Budget for 2019 and I will continue to make representations on this issue” concludes Pringle.
