Operations and appointments from Louth County Hospital could be outsourced

The Louth County Hospital in Dundalk

Hundreds of surgical operations and specialist appointments are set to be outsourced to private health providers in a bid to cut down on waiting lists with the Louth County Hospital in Dundalk amongst the locations affected.

That’s according to a report in today’s Irish Independent, which says that Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda, as well as Beaumont and Connolly Hospitals in Dublin, have issued a tender for the work.

The paper also claims that hospitals which are part of the Royal College of Surgeons Hospital Group, including Cavan, the Rotunda, the Louth and Monaghan are “likely to be involved in the outsourcing.”

Health Minister Leo Varadkar said the plan, which could see some patients sent abroad for treatment, would be expensive but was required to cut waiting lists down to a maximum of 18 months.

There are currently 564 patients awaiting surgery in the Louth County Hospital and a further 2,062 waiting for an outpatient appointment.

Meanwhile, in the Lourdes Hospital there are 1,242 waiting on surgery, with 11,386 waiting for an outpatient appointment.

Nationally there are more than 412,000 people on waiting lists, with 10,000 of them waiting more than a year.

The tenders will see 500 endoscopies, and 200 colonoscopies outsourced along with 50 patients needing ear, nose and throat surgery. Another 300 are to be offered to see a dermatologist for skin conditions privately.

Jobs boost as lowcostholidays.ie to set up new HQ in Dundalk

Clem Walshe of lowcostholidays.ie

The lowcosttravelgroup – who operate as www.lowcostholidays.ie – has announced that they are setting up a new Irish headquarters in Dundalk, which will employ up to 12 staff.

Irish Managing Director Clem Walshe, who lives locally, said: “The level of growth that we have enjoyed over the past year gave us a clear indication of the need to increase our investment in local resources to manage more aspects of the Irish business.

“Adding more local industry knowledge to the Irish team will put us in a much better position to take our business to the next level.”

The company expects to employ up to 12 staff before the end of 2014. Immediate appointments will include call centre staff and aviation executives.

Travel industry experience is desired for both roles. Aviation applicants should be very familiar with Irish leisure and scheduled aviation with Amadeus or other GDS experience and have knowledge of airline ticketing and fares.

Applicants who are interested in either role should send their CV in confidence to siobhain.mulholland@lowcosttravelgroup.com