Report on flooding at Letterkenny General Hospital may not be released

A report into the causes of the flooding at Letterkenny General Hospital may never be released, the Health Service Executive has admitted.

At a press conference yesterday to update on the ongoing situation at the hospital, Paul Connors, director of communications at the HSE, said it was anxious the report now being carried out by a team of civil engineers be made public.

“We strive to make them public but there are lots of external bodies that may not let us do so,” said Mr Connors.

It is understood that a culvert at the rear of the hospital overflowed sending large volumes of water into the building.

Mr Connors said he did not want to pre-empt what was in that report or put a timescale on when it will be ready.

Hospital manager Seán Murphy said that while 40 per cent of the footprint of the hospital was damaged, up to 70 per cent of services were affected. Mr Murphy said the recovery operation at the hospital was on schedule.

A fleet of workmen arrived yesterday to begin work on the renovation of the accident and emergency department which was badly hit by the flood.

“We remain on course to the schedule that we drew up last week and contractors are working 24/7 to refit the accident and emergency department,” he said.

Mr Murphy said patients are still being sent to Sligo General Hospital, Altnagelvin Hospital and Enniskillen Hospital and he thanked those hospitals for their help. He added that he still could not put a figure on the damage caused but admitted it would be sizeable.

He also said he could not put a timeframe on when the hospital would be back to full functionality

Director of clinical services at the hospital, Dr Paul O’Connor, said the damage to the hospital will result in delays to surgery waiting lists.