A dedicated paediatric pathway will form part of a planned extension to the Letterkenny University Hospital Emergency Department.
A separate ‘Paediatric Treatment Zone’ and six additional enclosed treatment rooms will be included in the works, which will be designed this year.
The HSE is planning to progress the project through the scheme design and planning permission stages with detailed design and tendering to follow in 2025.
The extension plans were outlined at the Regional Health Forum West yesterday, where Cllr Gerry McMonagle said he was disappointed with the timeframe of at least two years.
“I don’t know if Letterkenny University Hospital can wait that long, certainly the people of Donegal can’t wait that long for an extension,” Cllr McMonagle said.
Speaking to Saolta and HSE representatives, he said: “We don’t have to tell you the extent of the problems with capacity and size for the amount of people presenting there on a regular basis.”
Cllr McMonagle has previously called for a separate pathway for children at the emergency department and welcomed the planned treatment zone.
“I’ve raised that added difficulty for children and their experience when they are at the hospital and the trauma that they see,” he said.
“I welcome the fact that will be part of this plan but unfortunately it’s going to be 2025 before planning permission is granted and tenders are accepted before work would start on it,
“That is very worrying because it is two years before we even get that new space.”
Cllr McMonagle said a more substantial development of the ED should be incorporated into the plan.
“When you go in there and it is overcrowded early in the week, and you see where people have to sit, among people very seriously ill, with trauma and others who have infections, it’s not right the way patients are being shoehorned into this small space and it’s certainly not fair on staff working in these conditions,” he said.
Ann Cosgrove, Chief Operations Officer at Saolta University Health Care Group said it was a positive step that the project has been included in the HSE Capital Plan for 2024 as a new project with funding to be allocated for the procurement and engagement of a design team in 2024, adding “we need to ensure we keep it moving.”
