Thomas Pringle TD
Home / Latest News / Pringle Urges Minister Lynch to meet with ‘Save Our St. Joseph’s Hospital’ Campaign Group

Pringle Urges Minister Lynch to meet with ‘Save Our St. Joseph’s Hospital’ Campaign Group

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In response to fears over the future of community hospitals in Donegal, Independent TD Thomas Pringle has written to Minister Lynch urging her to meet with the Save Our St. Joseph’s Hospital Action Committee (SOS) to reverse the downgrading of the hospital and to secure its future.

‘The closure of Ramelton, Lifford and St. Joseph’s in Stranorlar is part of a larger pattern: a failure of Fine Gael to deliver community health services vital to Donegal.’

‘Just last week I attended the emergency meeting on the future of Dunfanaghy’s Health clinic which came as a result of the HSE’s persistent neglect of the community’s call to action to upgrade this important facility and the Government’s failure to intervene.’

‘To add to this we now know that Letterkenny University Hospital has been farming out appointments to private hospitals all over the state in order to try and keep waiting lists off the agenda for the election yet this only serves to highlight the Government’s own recognition of its failure to deliver. The crisis in waiting lists in Letterkenny General Hospital is a direct consequence of the reduction in its budget that has meant waiting lists have soared under Fine Gael/Labour. The continued lack of investment in LGH has led to beds closed and unfilled consultant posts across the hospital.’

‘And now the recent announcements of the closure of community nursing units in Lifford, Ramelton and Stranorlar to make way for a 120-bed unit in Letterkenny have caused panic and uncertainty across communities in Donegal. The added confusion from Minister McHugh who could not confirm the future viability of the units has left many feeling very insecure about access to health in Donegal.’

‘Over the next ten years we need at least 550 additional beds in community hospitals and nursing homes. The closure of St Jospeh’s, Ramelton and Lifford hospitals will not help address an ageing population. Instead it will cause hardship for the elderly and their communities all to make the private sector richer through the Public Private Partnership to build the new Letterkenny Nursing Unit.’

‘We need to see an increase in the portion of health spending allocated to primary care to 9%. This must be done alongside reinstating the rural practice allowance for GPs and employing physiotherapists, occupational therapists and community nurses needed to provide community health services. We also need to ensure adequate accommodation in primary care sites to facilitate these services.’

‘For these reasons  I am urging Minister Lynch with responsibility for Primary Care to meet with the Action Committee in an effort to seek a reversal of the downgrading of St. Joseph’s bed capacity and to seek a commitment to the preservation of the future of its services’ concludes Pringle.

ENDS

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