Health service must face reality

THE outcry, as reported across the media, following the failure to transfer a patient from Leitrim to London for a liver transplant, has been remarkable.

Equally remarkable is the promptness with which HIQA issued a report on the matter and the uncritical nature of the subsequent comments on the report.

According to the HIQA Report, at least 76 phone calls took place between 11 parties in Ireland and the UK in an effort to organise the transfer. This indicates the complexity of the task which involved coordinating activities between these 11 parties across two jurisdictions to organise both air and road transport facilities while taking account of weather and flight conditions and all of this to be completed within four hours of the first telephone call.

Although the resource implications of providing a service equal to the task have not been spelt out by HIQA or anyone else, everyone concerned is adamant that such a failure cannot occur again, and that a successful response must be achieved within four hours.

Contrast this very laudable determined approach with the situation outlined by Fr. Peter McVerry in a recent radio interview on RTE 1 about his work with deprived young people in Dublin. Many of them are drug addicts, having been exploited by drug pushers since no one else gave them any attention. Fr. McVerry said that every one of these people wants to kick their drug habit but must be provided with the appropriate services at a time when they are receptive to treatment. This window of opportunity lasts for a few weeks, or in some cases a few months.

However, the waiting time for treatment is usually six months by which time it is too late. It is likely that many of these people will die from their addiction or end up in prison within a short while and, considering the appalling state of our prisons, the risk of death within prison is not insignificant. Yet there is no outcry about this situation, just calls every so often for more prison places.

The treatment for drug addiction requires a few professionals who can provide understanding, advice and time.

When it comes to our health services it seems that we are so consumed with intricate processes, complicated logistics and sophisticated medical technology that we can no longer relate to people, especially people who need simple basic care and a little attention.

Martin Hayes

Waterfall

Cork