Sir, – The situation at Letterkenny General Hospital is very serious – life-threatening. We do not have an A&E department in Co Donegal. And we will not for a long time. The risk of cross-infection from raw sewage is off the scale. Patients in the hospital cannot receive visitors and yet we have a daily troop of politicians trailing through the place.
To all politicians, including ministers and party leaders across all party lines: Stop wasting management and staff time. They are too busy to be dealing with a political circus. The local media is more than capable of informing you of the daily situation. If you know where extra funding is available go and source it – do not stop at the media first. Get the funds to the hospital management. We need a fleet of ambulances. One extra ambulance is not enough. If there is a team of advisers anywhere in the world that can help sort out this situation to the highest standard fly them here now.
We could ask, “Would you want to be treated in Letterkenny hospital?” but Kathleen Lynch’s helicopter ride out of the place answered that question. We are in a disaster situation, but we are not a third-world county. Wandering around Letterkenny hospital with one arm longer than the other is not helping. When the hospital is equipped and fully functioning again you may all come back, cut ribbons and take a bow. In the meantime do not stand there telling us what you are going to do – go do it. – Yours, etc,
DENISE BLAKE,
Ramelton ,
Co Donegal.
Sir, – As a daily reader of The Irish Times for over 40 years, I always regarded your paper as the leader of Irish journalism, but I have been totally disgusted by your almost complete lack of coverage of the recent flooding of Letterkenny General Hospital and the absolutely devastating consequences of the flooding.
The fact that a major hospital catering for the needs of a population of 140,000 has been made essentially inoperable did not warrant a single article in your newspaper this week, suggests either sloppy journalism, a complete absence of interest in the north west, or, worse still, the suppression of news.
Given that essentially the entire radiology department, the entire emergency department, much of coronary care, oncology department, the entire kitchen department and large parts of pharmacy, pathology and medical records have been utterly destroyed, with the cost of reinstatement, of one of those departments alone being of the order of at least €7 million, I find it extraordinary that this event has received so little coverage.
I very much doubt if an event of similar magnitude had occurred in any Dublin hospital that there would be so little coverage. I think that the people of Donegal deserve better and I would hope that even at this late stage that appropriate coverage of this disaster (which it truly is for the people of Donegal) would be provided by the supposed paper of record. – Yours, etc,
(Dr) CONALL
Mac a BHAIRD,
The Glebe,
Letterkenny, Co Donegal.