Leitrim woman left waiting six hours in ambulance outside Sligo University Hospital

A woman from south Leitrim was left waiting for six hours in an ambulance outside Sligo University Hospital due to severe overcrowding in the emergency department, the Dáil has heard.

The incident was raised by Sligo-Leitrim TD Martin Kenny, who said the hospital has been described as one of the most overcrowded in the country.

He told the Dáil that the ambulance was unable to offload the patient because there was no space inside the accident and emergency department.

“Recently, a woman waited outside Sligo hospital in an ambulance for six hours because there was no space to bring her into the hospital,” Deputy Kenny said. “That ambulance came from south Leitrim. During the time the ambulance was waiting, there was no ambulance cover in the region.”

Deputy Kenny said the situation was not isolated and was happening across the country.

He raised the issue during a debate on the Health Insurance (Amendment) Bill 2025 and said the crisis in public hospitals was forcing people into private health insurance.

“Almost 50 per cent of people now have health insurance, yet the level of service they get is often not up to the standard they would expect,” he said.

He called for a full review of how the health service operates, warning that private insurance was not solving the problem.

“Having health insurance does not solve the problem for a lot of people. In fact, all it does is make them pay more and still get an inadequate service,” he said.

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