DEPUTY Charlie
McConalogue is calling on the HSE to reinstate
pacemaker and internal defibrillator procedures in
Letterkenny General Hospital "as a matter of
priority".
The procedures were temporarily suspended on
September 1 last year as a 'cost containment
measure' and the HSE gave a commitment to review the
restoration of this service in 2012.
"Having raised this issue at the Oireachtas Health
Committee towards the end of last year, I am now
calling on the HSE to honour its commitment to
consider reinstating pacemaker and internal
defibrillator procedures in Letterkenny General.
"I have spoken to the hospital’s General Manager
Sean Murphy about this and I have been assured that
discussions are ongoing. However, I want to see a
full resumption of services and I believe the sooner
the HSE review current practices the better."
Previously, the hospital carried out approximately
10 to 15 of these procedures per month. Donegal
patients now have to be transferred to Galway
University Hospital or St James Hospital in Dublin
for the treatment they need.
The Inishowen FF TD added: "Progress must be made on
establishing a permanent facility for installing
pacemakers at the hospital. Thanks to the great
efforts of the Friends of Letterkenny General
Hospital, substantial funds have already been raised
for this facility.
"The HSE must work with the hospital to provide the
additional funding needed for a permanent unit. This
would be of enormous benefits to patients in Donegal
and the North West, and would prove very cost
efficient in the long run.” |
