Just under 5,000 patients from Letterkenny University Hospital were referred for treatment in private hospitals in Northern Ireland in the last five years.
In total, 4,926 inpatient/day cases were outsourced between 2020 and May 2025.
There’s been a steady increase in referrals – from 574 in 2020 to a peak of 1,170 in 2023, followed by 1,065 in 2024.
So far this year, 367 cases have been outsourced to Northern Ireland under the National Treatment Purchase Fund.
Endoscopy procedures accounted for 2,524 of referrals in the past five years.
The figures were provided to Councillor Gerry McMonagle, newly elected Chair of the Regional Health Forum West.
Cllr McMonagle has queried the cost of the treatments.
“While it’s welcome to see people get the treatments they need, it’s private companies that are benefiting from this,” said Cllr McMonagle.
“I can’t help but think that if we invested that money into LUH (Letterkenny University Hospital) there would be much more benefits.”
Earlier this month, it was revealed that the National Treatment Purchase Fund paid out almost €29 million to private hospitals in two years to tackle waiting lists at Letterkenny University Hospital. The figure has seen a steady increase since the pandemic.
