Calls have been made on the Minister for Health Simon Harris to reopen beds at Letterkenny Hospital with immediate effect.
Donegal Senator Pádraig Mac Lochlainn has commenced a billboard campaign in the lead up to this year’s budget for the reopening of all 20 beds in Letterkenny Hospital’s Short Stay Ward.
In the lead up to last year’s budget, thousands of signatures were gathered for a Donegal Sinn Féin petition that was handed over to the office of the Minister for Health, Simon Harris.
In the days that followed that budget, the government committed to reopening all the beds and recruiting the necessary staff but they have since provided the funding for the reopening of only five out of the 20 beds.
Senator Mac Lochlainn commences billboard campaign for the reopening of beds at Letterkenny Hospital
Senator Mac Lochlainn said: “There is an ongoing beds crisis at Letterkenny University Hospital that results in patients and their families waiting long hours at the emergency department, only to be placed in a trolley or a bed in an inappropriate location.
This beds crisis also results in cancelled operations and growing hospital waiting lists for thousands of Donegal people”.
“It is therefore outrageous that all of the 20 beds in Letterkenny Hospital’s Short Stay Ward have not been reopened, particularly when the people of Donegal were assured this would happen by the government last year,” he said.
“While we need many more beds opened at Letterkenny University Hospital and at Community Hospitals across the county, these are beds that have been closed and we know from the hospital management that they can facilitate their speedy reopening, once the government releases the funding they have committed to and waives their recruitment embargo in this case.
“My campaign is aimed at calling on Minister Simon Harris in particular to keep his word and to release the funding as soon as possible as part of this year’s budget,” he added.
“The Minister and local politicians in Donegal assured us all that this was sorted last year. One year on, its time for action and not words this time”.
