200 women await action on abnormal smear tests

APPROXIMATELY 200 women with abnormal smear test results, of which 80 are deemed clinically urgent, are waiting up to four months for follow-up examinations at Kerry General Hospital.

The backlog of women awaiting colposcopies is so great that the hospital has requested help from the National Treatment Purchase Fund to tackle the waiting list, an exceptional development given the fund does not normally carry out diagnostic procedures.

Yesterday, consultant obstetrician/gynaecologist Dr Mary McCaffrey, head of the hospital’s colposcopy department, blamed the waiting list on staffing shortages made worse by the Government embargo on recruitment to the public service. She also blamed a lack of physical space.