A Donegal County Councillor has called for more surgical services to be available locally where the clinics already exist, rather than expecting thousands of patients to travel to Sligo.
5,466 patients with Donegal addresses travelled to Sligo University Hospital last year for surgical treatment. A further 4,469 travelled to Galway University Hospital.
The figures were shared at a meeting of the Regional Health Forum West today, where Councillor Declan Meehan pointed out that both Ear, Nose, and Throat and Opthamology specialities have clinics running in Letterkenny University Hospital, but no surgery takes place for the vast majority of treatments.
“If clinics can happen in a hospital, then surgeries can happen in a hospital,” Cllr Meehan said.
“We are talking about upwards of 5 hour round trips for people travelling to Sligo for surgery that should be available in Letterkenny University Hospital because the specialities are available there through clinics.
“Instead of bringing consultants to Letterkenny, we are bringing 4,200 patients to the consultant in Sligo. It’s illogical.”
In 2024, 768 Donegal patients received Otolaryngology (ENT) surgical treatment at Sligo University Hospital. Ophthalmology saw a much higher volume, with 3406 Donegal patients undergoing surgical treatment.
For the first quarter of 2025, a total of 1,281 Donegal patients underwent surgical treatment in various departments at Sligo University Hospital.
Cllr Meehan commented that the numbers will “only increase” if the Minister for Health grants the HSE’s business case for a surgical hub in Sligo.
“We have a situation compounded by the fact that the HSE has solely selected Sligo University Hospital as a recommended location for the surgical hub in the north west, but if that decision is made by the Minister in favour of SUH, these numbers of patients will only increase and that situation will only become worse.
“This is despite the fact that Letterkenny University Hospital is the second largest model 3 in the state and the sixth busiest in the state.
“If there is to be one surgical hub chosen for the north west it should be Letterkenny.”
During a discussion on the topic, Tony Canavan, Regional Executive Officer, suggested that some of the 5,500 Donegal patients currently travelling to Sligo might be within SUH’s catchment area. He added that patients in South Donegal might choose SUH if they felt it was more appropriate for their needs.
Cllr Meehan replied: “If surgery is not available in Letterkenny University Hospital, they don’t have the option to attend there, that’s the point.”
