‘There are so many strains on the system’

LORCAN McNAMARA, who will celebrate his sixth birthday next week, has already undergone vital heart surgery twice during his short life.

Although fit and well now he needs a crucial operation to ease the pressure on his heart. His name has been on a waiting list for surgery at Our Lady’s Hospital for Sick Children in Crumlin since February.

Lorcan’s mother, Dympna Donnelly, is chairwoman of Heart Children Ireland. She hopes the procedure will take place this autumn but is aware the waiting time is beginning to stretch again.

Like any mother in her position, Dympna never stops worrying about Lorcan. In the back of her mind there is the unspoken fear that her son’s little heart might suddenly stop beating.

“Any parent whose child is on the waiting list is always worried about their condition deteriorating,” she said.

Because Lorcan has a congenital heart defect his condition has been tracked by medical experts throughout his life.

Other children with heart problems referred to the hospital by their GP have to wait around 14 months to be seen as an outpatient by a consultant at the hospital.

"The only way to avoid the long waiting time is for the child to get sick and be admitted as an emergency patient,” Dympna said.

“It’s absolutely appalling. The cardiologists are trying to cope by fitting as many children as possible into their clinics, putting themselves under huge pressure and leaving them little or no time to deal with parents’ concerns.”

Dympna said the waiting list is not a problem at the moment but become one due to the shortage of paediatric intensive care nurses and beds.

“But it’s not just the waiting time for surgery. There are just so many stresses and strains on the whole system,” Dympna said.

For instance, there is now a long waiting list for cardiac diagnostic procedures that involve invasive surgery. Lorcan has already undergone four such procedures.

“Even with the best will in the world, the shortage of intensive care nurses will not be fixed overnight. That takes planning and there’s nobody looking at what the demand will be for cardiac services in two years’ time,” Dympna said.

Asked if she thought the situation at the hospital was going to get worse before it got better, she replied: “I would think so.”

There was a constant “sticking plaster” approach to problems at the hospital like sending 40 children to the US to be treated the last time the waiting list for cardiac surgery became unmanageable two years ago.

Her real concern is that unless the situation at the hospital improves it will no longer be able to attract the best medical specialists.

“That’s what’s happening in intensive care nursing now. Why would they go to Crumlin when they can get a better deal and have better facilities in hospitals elsewhere?

"In the long run, if we don’t attract the brightest and the best we will all lose out.”