Fears for patient safety were highlighted to leading figures at Letterkenny University Hospital today during a meeting with local GPs.
Today’s meeting focused on issues at the Emergency Department, which last month prompted 78 GPs to co-sign a letter stating that they feared for patients’ lives unless urgent action was taken.
Members of the Saolta Group management team heard calls for immediate support for staff at the emergency department and for timely access to care for patients.
“We are worried that our patients were suffering from worse outcomes based on their experiences in the hospital,” said Dr Pádraig McGuinness, a GP based in Fanad.
Dr McGuinness said that while doctors felt their concerns were listened to, “Saolta were light on the detail and we were a little disappointed that some of the plans lacked firm timelines.”
He added: “We welcome that they took the time to meet with us, we had a frank, open and honest discussion.
“We will continue to highlight the issues and deficiencies in both funding and access to services.”
One of the concrete commitments that came from the meeting was a review of access to urgent outpatient appointments, including for suspected cancers.
GPs also got a commitment that a medical assessment unit would be open before the end of December for patients referred to the emergency department.
Dr McGuinness said: “The devil will be in the detail and on how that assessment unit is working.
“We have articulated how we want it to work and we look forward to our next meeting in a month’s time and hearing about the progress that the Saolta team have made during that time of what is a very serious ongoing patient safety concern.”
Dr McGuinness noted that positive improvements have been implemented at LUH ED in recent weeks.
“Work has been ongoing in the background. We know that the Minister is putting quite a bit of pressure on Saolta and the hospital management,” he said.
“There is a decrease in ambulance wait times which have on average fallen by almost half an hour.”
The meeting comes days after a team of HSE specialists launched a review at Letterkenny University Hospital. A Performance Management and Improvement Unit (PMIU) is expected to spend the next six weeks examining issues such as the numbers presenting at the emergency department to reducing waiting times, delayed discharges, community care, and GP services.
Dr McGuinness said that GPs welcome any external review team that offers insights and a clear plan to improve patient safety and access to the hospital, adding “we hope they take the time to speak to GPs while they are here, as important stakeholders and as the people who originally raised the red flag around patient safety at the hospital.”
A spokesperson for Saolta told Donegal Daily that today’s meeting was “open and constructive”.
They said: “During the meeting, management listened to concerns and gave details of the work underway to address staffing and infrastructure requirements at the Letterkenny site.
“We look forward to building on this work over the coming weeks and months as we strive together to provide the best possible care for the local communities we serve.”
