Gardaí hamstrung by closure of Letterkenny A&E

The closure of the Emergency Department at Letterkenny General Hospital (LGH) means local gardaí are unable to take blood or urine samples from suspected drink drivers injured in collisions.

Following measures introduced in the new Road Traffic Bill in 2011, gardaí were given the power to have a blood or urine sample taken from a driver hospitalised following a collision.

However, as the LGH Emergency Department is closed as result of flooding two weeks ago, anyone seriously injured in road collisions in the north of the county is being flown directly to Altnagelvin Hospital in Derry.

In addition, the majority of similar emergency cases in the south of the county are being taken to Enniskillen, and not Sligo.

As a result, gardaí cannot request blood or urine samples as the suspected drink driver is being treated in another jurisdiction.

A Garda source told this paper that there have been a number of such cases over the past fortnight and this problem will be an “ongoing” one until the local Emergency Department reopens.

“This is a serious, serious issue that has only developed since the Emergency Department in Letterkenny was flooded. Currently, we are unable to comply with the new Road Traffic Bill and we cannot ask the PSNI to do something they are not authorised to do,” the source said.

“Even if a suspected drink driver is being treated in NoWDoc (out-of-hours GP service), we cannot make a demand for a sample as they are not in a hospital. We do not know what to do. This is a crazy situation as, since the bill was introduced, we have seen a major reduction in the loss of lives on our roads.”

Since the law was changed in 2011, a number of people have been prosecuted for drink driving in the local courts after blood or urine samples were taken from them after being admitted to hospital.

A number of similar cases are currently before the courts.