Nursing shortages hit roll-out of new menopause clinics
Recruitment challenges could also delay the setting up of three more menopause clinics, the HSE has confirmed.
A newly opened menopause clinic in Dublin is unable to offer full services because of nurse shortages, the GP running the state-funded centre has said.
Similar recruitment challenges could also delay the setting up of three more clinics including two in Munster, the HSE has confirmed.
The Health budget for 2022 included, for the first time, dedicated money for menopause clinics. This followed a spike in awareness of limited treatment options when menopausal women aired frustrations over five days on RTÉ’s last year.
Dr Deirdre Lundy, a GP and menopause specialist, said they have been offering a limited service at the recently-opened clinic in the National Maternity Hospital.
“The money has been made available by the HSE and Department of Health which we are so grateful for, but because of the general underfunding of the health services and the devastation of Covid, we have staff appointed but we don’t have other staff to take over their current roles to release them to run the clinic,” she said.
“We are definitely offering the service, the clinic is up and running but we are not running with a full staff yet.”
There are two GPs, but the nurse can only assist after her regular work is done. Dr Lundy said this woman is “extraordinary” but it is not sustainable.
The service is currently only open to menopausal women with medical conditions and in a limited geographical area, she said.
“Eventually, I can see in the next couple of months, certainly by the end of this year I can see it being more of an open clinic,” she said. “But at the moment we are only accepting referrals from GPs about patients where the rules would say send them to a menopause specialist.”
Negotiations started in December between the HSE, maternity hospitals in the South/SouthWest hospital group, and the UL Hospitals Group about setting-up two clinics in Munster. A third will be under the Saolta hospital group for Connacht.
However the locations have not yet been picked, and funding allocation letters are yet to be issued, a spokeswoman for the department of health said.
“The HSE has indicated that the date when each new clinic will become operational is dependent on the recruitment of additional staff,” the spokeswoman said.
“As such, we are not in a position to provide a definitive timeline.”
The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation has frequently called for specific funding to hire additional nurses and midwives across every area.
Dr Lundy also raised concerns about access to hormone replacement therapy (HRT) treatment.
Shortages of a number of brands were reported from mid-December onwards, although some are back in stock from this week including the popular Evorel Conti patch.
“It is an ongoing nightmare,” she said. Shortages have happened so often, she now writes generic prescriptions for “any 50mg patch” so pharmacists can choose which brand to give, she said.
