Hospital heart scanner put on hold over staff maternity and holiday leave

Stephen Maguire

A vital heart scanning service at Letterkenny University Hospital in Co Donegal has been put on hold because of staff going on maternity and other leave.

The Computed Tomography Coronary Angiography (CTCA) service was launched in the Radiology Department at the hospital in May last year.

Patients from Donegal previously had to travel to a hospital in Dublin to have the imaging performed.

CTCA is performed to gain knowledge about cardiac or coronary anatomy and may detect or diagnose coronary artery disease (CAD) in patients.

It is safe, accurate and better tolerated by the patient than a conventional catheter angiogram.

The service was running successfully after it was introduced under the guidance of consultant cardiologist Dr Manuel Ramos, a specialist in cardiac imaging.

He is supported by a specialist team including a dedicated CT clinical specialist radiographer, a Clinical Nurse Specialist as well as consultant radiologists, radiographers, and nursing staff.

At the time of the launch, hospital manager Sean Murphy said "The launch of the CTCA service at Letterkenny University Hospital marks a significant step forward in enhancing cardiac care for our community.

"This development means patients can now access advanced cardiac imaging locally, reducing the need for long-distance travel and enabling quicker diagnosis and treatment."

However, Donegal Daily has learned that the scanner has been out-of-action for a number of days and will not be reintroduced for a number of weeks.

In the meantime, it is understood that patients are being transferred to hospitals in both Dublin and Galway for scans.

A spokesperson for the HSE confirmed "In May 2025 LUH introduced a Computed Tomography Coronary Angiograph (CTCA) scanning Service, which meant that patients who required these specialist scans no longer had to travel to Dublin or Galway. This service has run very successfully over the last 12 months.

"However, the service is currently experiencing temporary operational constraints due to a combination of maternity and other leave.

"To reduce any delays for patients the decision was made to revert to outsourcing urgent CTCA scans to another hospital where clinically appropriate."

The spokesperson stressed this was a temporary measure and the scanner will be "back online in the coming weeks as staffing allows."

"This is a temporary situation and the local CTCA Service will come back online in the coming weeks as staffing allows.

"Patients who have already been accepted for CTCA will remain on the waiting list and new referrals will continue to be received and added to the waiting list during this period.

"As noted above, urgent scans will be undertaken at one of the other hospitals as was the case prior to May 2025."