Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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172. To ask the Minister for Health her plans to deal with the crisis with emergency department wait times at Letterkenny University Hospital; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [64570/25]

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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The minister has given approval to several measures with a view to improving performance in the West North West region and in particular at Letterkenny University Hospital.

The West North West hospitals are within the appropriate staffing ranges, but to alleviate the pressures the Minister has given approval to provide supplementary support through agency and overtime hours.

Since September, the HSE are holding daily oversight meetings at the most senior level - focusing on acute hospital's patient flow challenges outside of the targeted range.

The CEO has deployed expert national support to the West North West to assist with the immediate pressures.

Within the Unscheduled Emergency Care plan there are targeted actions including extended hours for senior decision makers and staff integral to supporting 7/7 operations.

As we enter the winter months, the HSE has launched awareness campaigns across social media and traditional media to encourage citizens to ‘Top Up’ their vaccinations with a particular focus on flu and Covid in addition to the annual healthcare worker vaccination promotion campaign.

In the long term, Ministerial approval has been given to surgical hubs in Sligo and Letterkenny which will help alleviate pressures in the emergency departments of the West and North West.