Surviving the health system

I AM baffled at the Taoiseach’s statement in the Dáil shortly before it adjourned for the summer — “I stand here and defend our health system”.

If Mr Ahern really believes he lives in the “best possible world”, he evidently uses different channels from those that common mortals like me are obliged to use.

On Monday, June 26, I spent 15 hours in the A&E of Cork University Hospital (CUH) standing next to the patient I had brought in who was luckily awarded a trolley in the corridor.

All I wanted was a doctor to call to the house for a suspected life-threatening situation. My own GP wasn’t available. South Doc asked me to bring the patient to them instead, and when I made it from Carrigaline, they said they were closed.

They told me to go to an A&E department where most of the cases end up, making it a kind of seaport.

After being charged 42% tax on one’s earnings, one would expect to be seen by a doctor when reaching A&E.

Instead it is necessary to pass through the toll gates claiming another €60 of your earnings.

One piece of advice — hitch a lift to the hospital or you will be charged another €10 for parking when discharged. This is what the system offers a citizen with a full-time job and health insurance.

Imagine what it does to someone less fortunate, or a pensioner. My experience was upsetting but, fortunately, did not end in tragedy.

Other citizens are not so lucky and die as a result of our antiquated system. Things like post-it tags on patient files held by the over-controlling figure of the GP should be immediately corrected.

We need action to ensure the patient’s medical records are instantly available and to provide a children’s hospital in every major city.

I know a number of immigrants who prefer to book a two- or three-hour flight home for treatment rather than call an ambulance in Cork. I could have travelled to New York and back during the 15-hour wait at CUH.

All the dedication of the hospital staff, the long hours they work — without ever losing the smile and the exceptional kindness so typical of Irish people — are the only things that make it bearable. Unfortunately, even these wonderfully caring people are undermined by a farcical system.

Sabrina Straventa

36 Árdcarrig

Carrigaline

Co Cork