€30k medical machine idle over staff shortage

A €30k phototherapy machine, paid for by voluntary fundraising efforts, was installed in 2010 in Bantry hospital, but has not been used to treat psoriasis since last August.

Medical equipment costing €30,000 that is used to deliver light therapy for the treatment of a chronic inflammatory skin condition has lain idle in Bantry General Hospital for almost nine months because there are no staff to operate it.

Now people in West Cork, for whom photo-therapy is recommended to treat psoriasis, must travel over 160km a couple of times a week to avail of a few minutes of therapy at Cork University Hospital.

A similar situation exists at Beaumont in Dublin, where a phototherapy service was “temporarily suspended” in November 2012 due to staff losses, but has yet to be reinstated. A business case was submitted last year arguing for permanent funding and staffing of the service.

Fine Gael councillor John O’Sullivan, who raised the issue at a recent regional health forum meeting, said it was “disgraceful” that patients had to travel long distances two or three times a week for brief treatment sessions when the service could be provided locally.

“What you have is people opting out of treatment altogether,” he said.

The €30,000 phototherapy machine was paid for by the voluntary fundraising efforts of the Friends of Bantry General Hospital Ltd. It was installed in 2010, but has not been used since August.

Friends’ spokesman Robert Fennell said they were “disgusted” the equipment was lying idle.

“We raised money to buy the equipment for people who are already paying their taxes,” he said. “The State should be providing the service, but it is not. We fundraised so that phototherapy could be delivered locally and now that isn’t happening.”

The HSE blamed the unavailability of the Bantry service on staff shortages. It said the standards for the delivery of phototherapy changed in 2012, and the revised standards advised “that to ensure a safe dose was delivered, an additional staff member was required”.

“In August 2013, due to the limited number of staff available, the service had to be suspended.”

The HSE said hospital management “recognise the value of this service to the local population” and had submitted a business case to allow the service to be reinstated.

Declan Hurley, chair of the Friends’ group, said they were hopeful the service would be reinstated by year end.

At the time the service ceased last August, there were 12 people on a waiting list. Between 2010 and August 2013, 40 people were treated locally.

Phototherapy involves exposing the skin to ultraviolet light under medical supervision. A course can take up to 12 weeks and involves attending the hospital for a very short period of time — varying from a couple of seconds to a couple of minutes depending on the output of the machine — two to three times weekly. Patients need to attend regularly because missed treatments disrupt the course.

Skin conditions such as psoriasis and eczema can be successfully treated with phototherapy.