This article is from page 3 of the 2008-03-04 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 3 JPG
PUBLIC patients in Clare are wait- ing up to a year for a critical lifesav- ing test.
It emerged this week that Clare patients referred to the University College Hospital Galway for colon- OScopy examinations are waiting up to 12 months.
Those referred to the Mid Western Regional Hospital Limerick for these crucial tests to determine life-threat- ening diseases such as bowl cancer are waiting up to nine months.
Urgent referals to the Limerick hos- pital are seen within “two to three” weeks, while urgent referrals to UCHG are “prioritised”.
Last October Kilkenny woman Su- sie Long died from bowl cancer.
The brave woman had highlight- ed how a seven-month wait for her colonoscopy meant that it was too late when her cancer was detected.
Shortly after her death, the govern- ment vowed that such a fatal delay would never occur again, but yet the waiting list remains.
SUN our CBM hmele tone more ce
ing the waiting lists to see if those on the waiting lists still require the test and then assessing patients for the Treatment Purchase Fund.
Colonoscopy is the endoscopic examination of the large colon and of the small bowel with a fibre op- tic camera on a flexible tube passed through the anus. It can provide a visual diagnosis and grants the op- portunity for biopsy or removal of suspected lesions.
Meanwhile the Irish Country Wom- an’s Association 1s also critical of de- lays in the healthy service.
The ICA is to discuss waiting times of up to two years in Limerick for mammogrammes for woman who are concerned but have no obvious Symptoms of breast cancer at its na- tional meeting in Cork on Saturday.
The meeting will also discuss the delays in the publication of enquiries into breast cancer services in Limer- ick, Galway and Portlaoise, including the report into the misdiagnoses of Killaloe woman Rebecca O’ Malley.
After learning that, for ‘legal rea- sons’, the release of the HIQA report into her breast cancer misdiagnosis
has now been delayed for a third time in as many months, the mother of three is demanding that the ability of individuals or groups within our health services to delay or block the publication of independent reports that deal with issues relevant to pa- tient safety, should be severely cur- Aer!
“It really makes me despair that any recommendations within the re- port into my case still cannot be im- plemented,’ said Ms O’ Malley.
The report was initially to be pub- lished on December 17.