Government urged to tackle soaring trolley figures at Letterkenny University Hospital

The government has been urged to adopt a zero-tolerance approach to hospital overcrowding following the publication of the INMO’s Trolley Watch analysis for March.

The figures show an alarming increase at Letterkenny Hospital, as 781 patients have been without a bed this March. This is the highest figure for the month of March ever at the hospital.

Donegal TD Padraig Mac Lochlainn has demanded that the Minister for Health take charge of the situation and fix the root causes of emergency department dysfunction to ensure that people in Donegal can get the healthcare they need.

Deputy Mac Lochlainn said: “I am seriously concerned by the huge number of people waiting on trolleys at Letterkenny. New figures show 781 people were without a bed this March at the hospital. This compares to half of that in the years before the covid pandemic which was already worryingly high and unacceptable.

"The government must take a zero-tolerance approach to hospital overcrowding to ensure that people in Donegal can get the high quality and timely healthcare they need.

“The Minister must take charge of the situation, root out wasteful or poor management practices, and make sure that hospitals are able to adopt better patient management practices.

“This is not a new issue – patients have been suffering the torturous consequences of overcrowding for years.

“The root causes of emergency department dysfunction are poor patient flow, low hospital capacity, delayed discharges, poor out-of-hours GP coverage and a lack of alternatives in the community.

“There is, without question, a need for more beds and more capacity in diagnostics and surgical theatres, but that is not all.

“There are efficiency reforms that have worked in some hospitals to reduce overcrowding and reduce delays in discharging patients, such as specialist medical wards."

The Sinn Fein TD added: “Above all else, we need to join up community and hospital healthcare. Too often, hospitals are left trying to discharge a patient, but there is no recovery bed available for them. Regional Health Areas will help to streamline this process.

“The long festering problems in primary care and general practice, which are a direct result of not training enough doctors and allied health professionals, need to be dealt with.

"Patients at Letterkenny Hospital deserve better and the government must do everything possible to address this crisis urgently.”