Patients in the north-west are facing ‘excessive delays in care’ because hospitals in the region are missing out on new beds and are struggling with a shortage of consultants.
That’s according to the Irish Hospital Consultants Association, which claim that hospitals in the Saolta University Health Care Group have some of worst waiting lists in the country with more than 143,000 people waiting for care
The IHCA also claims only 36 of the 806 additional acute beds opened nationwide over the past two years were in Saolta Group hospitals while 1 in 4 permanent consultant posts vacant or not filled as needed.
It adds that outpatient waiting list in Sligo University Hospital went from 11,949 in January 2015 to 19,409 in January this year, an increase of 62%.
The figures quoted for Letterkenny University Hospital were 16,035 in January 2015 and 18,767 in January 2022, a 17% increase.
