Why living south of river is a sight for sore eyes

WHAT’S the difference between a northsider and a southsider?

No, not culture or Roy Keane – in Cork, you can tell which side of the river a person is from by the quality of their eyesight. Anyone with a medical card and an address south of the river, who is in need of an eye test, is guaranteed not to have to wait more than 30 days. But in the hills of the northside, carrots are the only fallback for 3,700 people awaiting eye tests.

The lack of light at the end of the tunnel is down to the departure of the clerical officer who approves applications under the Adult Community Ophthalmic Scheme in HSE North Lee. She went on maternity leave last September and the post has been vacant since.

A letter from Dave Drohan, local health manager, to Fine Gael TD Bernard Allen, explained the number of applications being received were “in excess of the administrative capacity of the staff in that department” and that “continuity arrangements were put in place and have recently been reviewed with a view to expediting the current approval process and it is expected that the waiting list will be reduced significantly by this initiative”. While this could be described as a HSE version of Blindman’s Bluff, what we do know is that the clerical officer whose departure left the HSE flying blind is due to return in late August.

Southside, the service is rosy, even without the rose-tinted glasses.

The information was supplied to Mr Allen on foot of a parliamentary question on behalf of constituents who had been waiting more than six months for eye tests.

“If you are living in the northside, there is no telling when you’ll get approval for glasses. It’s a form of health apartheid,” Mr Allen said.

In the past, apartheid has led to retribution, but in this case, it is pointless. An eye for an eye only leads to more blindness.