Three-year wait to see consultant, so how long more before surgery?
Does he think it is fair that GPs can charge medical card holders for a sick cert, blood tests, and other necessary procedures? A person has a medical card because they have little or no money.
I waited three years for a hospital appointment to see an ENT consultant. I finally saw a consultant in September, but only because I rang up and pleaded. I have suffered from severe tonsillitis and sinusitis for the last five years, with tonsillitis recurring every four to six weeks for the last three years.
I was hospitalised in November, 2013, and it was horrific. I was very ill and and so was put on a drip, in the emergency department, because I was dehydrated and could not swallow the medication. I was discharged at 7am the following morning. I was still very sick, but the drip was pulled out of my arm and I was thrown out onto the street like an unwanted dog, on a freezing Sunday. I had to get a taxi home, at a cost of €25. I have been sick enough to merit being hospitalised on several occasions since then, but chose to suffer at home.
When I finally saw the consultant, he told me of my need for a CT scan. I have been put on six different antibiotics since August, 2015 (one for six weeks) and am still unwell, and have had two more bouts of tonsillitis, since seeing the consultant. Bear in mind, too, that when I am sick I cannot work and when I cannot work I do not get paid.
Last Sunday, I was so sick, and the headache I had was so severe, that my sister (a nurse) took me to the ED at University Hospital Waterford. After seeing a doctor and having various blood tests, they arranged for me to have a scan. I had a raised CRP of 52, which indicates inflammation in my body. This was after being on an antibiotic for five days. I was admitted to hospital and had to sleep on a trolley, in a corridor, for the night. I was told I would be seen by an ENT consultant in the morning. Needless to say, it was a nightmare.
On Monday morning, I was seen by a general doctor, who told me I needed to be seen by an ENT consultant, as I had sinusitis and polyps. The consultant was unavailable, so a young junior doctor saw me. She told me “the scan showed thickness around your sinuses” and polyps (which I had already been aware of since 2010, when I last saw the ENT consultant). I need surgical intervention, but how long will I be forced to wait, given how long I have been on a waiting list just to be seen by a consultant. Another three years?
I am now too unwell to work, due to my ongoing illness, and so I have no income, apart from state benefit. I do not wish to be out of work, but this illness is debilitating. It is also making me depressed, as I see no end in sight.
My GP told me today that if I had private health insurance I would have been seen in the Whitfield Clinic, and fixed, months ago. So, maybe that is where I should go and I should send the bill to the Department of Health?
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