Waiting lists force many to pay €150 for STI tests

TENS of thousands of people are being forced to spend up to €150 on tests for sexually transmitted infections (STIs) due to waiting lists of up to eight weeks at many public hospital clinics or due to inconvenient opening hours.

The Labour party has criticised the Government for failing to adequately provide such facilities, saying greater resources have to be pumped into public clinics so services can be accessed quickly and cheaply.

Between 1994 and 2003, a 173% rise in STIs was recorded by the Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC). The HPSC has urged people to practice safe sex, but to get checked out as soon as possible if a person has concerns.

Labour Senator Derek McDowell said: “Although the emphasis should always be on preventing the spread of STIs, once a person contracts an infection, it can have devastating consequences for their health and fertility if not diagnosed. At present, services for those seeking STI testing are dangerously underdeveloped.

“Whatever public services are available are overstretched and under-resourced. Long waiting lists are prevalent and opening times scarce and at inconvenient times in clinics such as the one in James Street Hospital. Costs of private visits pose a significant barrier to young people and low-income families.”

The Irish Family Planning Association (IFPA) confirmed that full testing can cost up to €150 as numerous bloods and swabs have to be processed.

“We find that a lot of people come to us as there’s no waiting list compared to the hospital clinics, whereas there can be a period of six to eight weeks at some of the Dublin clinics before all tests are completed,” said an IFPA spokeswoman.

A spokesman for St James’s Hospital said they would not comment on the issue as resources were a matter for the Minister for Health and the Health Service Executive (HSE).

He said, however, that the genito-urinary department at St James’ was open five days a week on a sessional basis and that a walk-in service for new STI attendances was in operation on certain days.

A spokeswoman for the HSE Southern Area, where a genito-urinary clinic operates at the South Infirmary, said that people may have to wait up to two weeks for free testing but that, in an emergency, a person can be seen within 24 hours.