The Taoiseach has been told of serious overcrowding conditions at Letterkenny University Hospital this week, where lengthy wait times are affecting around 50 patients per day.
At one point yesterday, eight ambulances were backed up outside the Letterkenny Emergency Department.
Among the 57 patients seeking admission on Tuesday were an 88-year-old woman and a 79-year-old man, reportedly waiting on hard chairs all day for emergency care.
Deputy Padraig MacLochlainn told the Dáil today that the conditions were “utterly unacceptable”. He called for Health Minister Stephen Donnelly to act on the proposals for improvement made during his visit to the hospital last month.
Deputy Pearse Doherty also told the Dáil that staff and patients are suffering as a result of winter overcrowding.
“We have elderly patients in LUH unable to get a bed, forced to wait for 36 hours in a hard chair without a second of sleep during that period,” he said.
Sinn Féin’s Donegal Deputy Pearse Doherty has demanded a debate in the Dáíl before the house rises for Christmas to address the crisis in hospitals across the state and particularly at Letterkenny University Hospital.
“For the second day in a row, we have over 700 patients who have been admitted to our hospitals and can’t get a bed,” Deputy Doherty told the Taoiseach yesterday.
“All the while, the CEO of the HSE, the most senior civil servant in the department of health and even the fiscal council have warned that our health service is underfunded for next year.
“This is all happening under your watch. It is absolutely disgraceful. The health service is at crisis point.
“I’m asking that we have a debate before this house rises about what is unfolding in our hospitals right across our state under your watch.”
