Leitrim TD urges action in Dáil over severely strained dermatology services in north west

Leitrim TD Martin Kenny has highlighted the immense strain on the dermatology service at Sligo University Hospital (SUH).

Earlier this month, the Sligo GP Society received a letter from a Consultant Dermatologist at SUH, stating he would be on extended leave until mid-July and that no locum had been appointed in his absence. 

This consultant is currently the only dermatologist serving the Sligo, Leitrim, and Donegal region.

The service in Sligo has become overwhelmed following the retirement of a dermatologist at Letterkenny University Hospital. 

While recruitment efforts are ongoing to fill posts in Sligo, long waiting lists are causing significant frustration among both staff and patients.

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On Wednesday, June 25, Deputy Kenny raised the matter in the Dáil, calling it a “serious issue,” and describing it as an example of the north west being neglected.

Deputy Kenny informed Dáil members that more than 3,000 patients in the Sligo area are awaiting new dermatology appointments. With the service in Letterkenny now closed, 1,100 patients from that area have been redirected to Sligo.

He added that the GPs’ society in the area also wrote to representatives, stating its members have been under severe stress “for the past 20 years and that from their perspective the situation is very hard to fathom.”

“They are simply asking for adequate, workable dermatological services to be put in place for urgent cases and for routine cases to be seen in a timely fashion in the area,” Deputy Kenny said.

Minister of State at the Department of Health, Mary Butler TD, responded by assuring that she would raise the matter with the Minister for Health, Jennifer Carroll MacNeill TD.

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“I thank Deputy Kenny for raising this with dermatology and other services in Sligo University Hospital. I will speak with the Minister for Health later this afternoon and get a written response to him,” she said.

“I am not over the detail of that. We will get him a response later today or early tomorrow morning.”