A Donegal councillor says it’s shocking that almost ten years after floods caused an estimated €25m in damage at Letterkenny University Hospital, an official report into the incident still has to be presented by health board officials.
Cllr Gerry McMonagle – who is the Chairman of the Regional Health Forum West – is now demanding that the reports into two separate incidents of flooding at the hospital be made public.
The first flood at Letterkenny University Hospital occurred in July 2013 after a nearby drain burst its banks during heavy rainfall.
Just over a year later – in August 2014 – major damage was caused again when the new Emergency Department was hit by heavy floods following torrential downpours.
At this week’s Regional Health Forum West meeting held in Galway, Cllr McMonagle noted that the reports into the incidents of flooding had been completed. He asked when they would be presented to the forum and made public.
He was told that health officials had sought legal advice and are still not in a position to publish the report.
The flooding at Letterkenny University Hospital in July 2013
Cllr McMonagle said it’s in the public interest to have the details published.
“I understand what you are saying about the legal advice,” he said.
“But I think ten or 11 years after the first event that we haven’t got a report on it yet is shocking to say the least.
“I don’t know if further information in relation to what legalities there are is preventing the report being published, but I think it’s in the public interest that it does be published as soon as it’s legal.”
Tony Canavan, the CEO of the Saolta Hospital Group, agreed that it was a long time since the flooding incidents.
“It is a complicated matter because there are a number of different parties that were involved in the report,” he told this week’s meeting.
“It has to be vetted legally to make sure that the rights of all the various parties are protected through the process.”
He said that immediately after the floods, there were a number of recommendations which were implemented to help ensure that the hospital would be protected in times of further heavy rainfall.
“It would appear that certainly some of those measures are effective and they are functioning well,” he said.
“But obviously, we’ll keep after the report.
“I agree with you, it was done, it should be published and as soon as we get clearance to do it, we will issue it.”
