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.

Sharkey hits out at cancellation of elective surgeries in Dundalk hospital

Cllr Tomás Sharkey

Louth County Councillor Tomás Sharkey has hit out at the decision by the HSE to cancel elective surgery in the Louth County Hospital in Dundalk and has called it “the latest outrage in a dysfunctional health service.”

The Sinn Féin representative said the decision will lead to at least seven operations a day being cancelled, all to cope with the fact there is a shortage of staff in Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda.

“The HSE has just announced that it is cancelling elective surgery in Dundalk’s hospital. They have admitted that this is not to free up beds to deal with an overcrowding crisis but simply to address the fact that there is a staffing shortage in the theatre section of Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda.

“This new decision means that a minimum of seven operations a day will be cancelled in Louth County Hospital. Those patients will not have their gallbladder, varecous veins and hernia repair operations carried out. They will be left on a longer than ever waiting list and will probably end up sicker as a result, putting a new burden on the health system. This cut will cost more than it will save.

“A surgeon now has no elective list of patients to operate on and no theatre staff to work with. There is no justification for the waste of that surgeon’s time. Patients are due to receive word that the operation they have been waiting for is cancelled and that news will have a huge impact on them, their morale and family’s plans to provide aftercare.

“This decision is not in response to an overcrowding or trolley crisis. It is down to the fact that there are to enough staff in the Lourdes hospital. The HSE has tried to recruit but cannot attract staff to work in that hospital. Moving theatre staff from Dundalk to Drogheda does not get more operations done – it simply rotates the reduction in service from one place to another.

“Put simply, the HSE and it’s bosses in government are failing on a daily basis to provide a reliable, consistent health service to the people of this region,” said Cllr Sharkey.