Patients must travel for care

HUNDREDS of elderly and arthritic patients from Kerry have to travel to Cork for treatment because of a long delay in appointing a consultant at Kerry General Hospital in Tralee.

The Department of Health is again coming under pressure to provide funding for the appointment of a consultant rheumatologist at the Tralee hospital, which also serves parts of west Limerick and north Cork. The appointment was first identified as a priority 12 years ago.

A further report, in 2005, by the Health Service Executive (HSE) also listed the appointment as a priority.