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27 vacant doctor posts at Letterkenny 14.02.14

THERE are almost 27 vacant posts for non consultant hospital doctors at Letterkenny General Hospital, it's been revealed.
The figures show that more than a fifth of Letterkenny’s doctor positions currently remain unfilled.
But Donegal T.D., Charlie McConalogue said he was ‘appalled’ at Health Minister James Reilly's responses to him in the Dáil about the chronic shortage.
He said Minister Reilly said Donegal would have to "live with it" because there is a shortage of non consultant hospital doctors (NCHDs) generally and it’s difficult to attract doctors to "more rural locations" like Letterkenny.
“This is a disgraceful response from the minister. To just shrug and tell Donegal to put up with an unacceptable shortage of frontline health staff is simply outrageous,” said Deputy McConalogue.
“This is the elected representative charged with running our health services.
Donegal T.D., Charlie McConalogue.
He has responsibilities to patients in Donegal, just as he does to the patients in his own constituency in Dublin. He can’t just shrug off all responsibility for what’s happening in Letterkenny.
Deputy McConalogue said Letterkenny hospital is entitled to 121 full-time equivalent NCHDs but there are currently 26.5 vacant positions.
He said 14 locum agency staff are being employed to "pick up some of the slack, but it’s nowhere near enough".
"This is just an expensive quick-fix that’s simply not sustainable. The minister’s approach makes no sense. It costs the HSE far more to hire agency staff than to recruit full time doctors.
"Whether the solution is a system of rotation, or recruiting internationally until there are more doctors available at home, the bottom line is that we need to see solutions quickly, before lives are put at risk," added the local deputy.
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