Hundreds of Kilkenny patients seeking eye care in the county are languishing on long waiting lists for ophthalmology services since the departure of the Kilkenny consultant ophthalmologist from his position before Christmas last year.
Public patients are waiting months for an appointment with a consultant for eye complaints in Kilkenny, as currently there is no consultant dedicated to the Kilkenny clinic. Previously a consultant would have visited the Kilkenny clinic on a regular basis from Waterford Regional Hospital. There is now a massive backlog of patients waiting to be seen by a consultant and referral letters are falling on deaf ears according to patients awaiting treatment.
One patient speaking to the Kilkenny Advertiser was waiting for several months before she rang the clinic herself to hear that her referral letter had not yet been dealt with and that there was a huge backlog of Kilkenny and Carlow patients as a result of the vacant position. The doctor who had referred the patient was also unaware that the consultant was not still working for the HSE South and that there was now only three out of four consultants working.
The patient was forced to see a private consultant which cost €130 and now has to have a surgical procedure carried out in a private hospital.
In a statement to the Kilkenny Advertiser, the HSE stated, “regional ophthalmology services in the south-east are provided by four hospital consultants, who provide outreach clinics in the five counties of the south-east. In addition a community ophthalmology service is provided by four community ophthalmologists and clinics are conducted in the five counties. In relation to the Carlow/Kilkenny service the consultant ophthalmologist post which was allocated to this outreach clinic is currently vacant and the post is now being re-advertised.”
A spokesperson from the HSE confirmed that an ad for the post is being posted this week, however, the position has been vacant since the beginning of the year.
The statement continued, “it is planned to restore the consultant- delivered service to the Carlow Kilkenny Community Clinic at the earliest opportunity - in the interim all referrals are redirected to Waterford Regional Hospital. The consultants at WRH see the referral letters now until a locum is recruited.”
However, it’s understood that the waiting list has grown substantially since the consultant’s departure and that very few patients from Carlow and Kilkenny are being seen.
Many patients are being forced to go privately to have their complaints dealt with efficiently and there is no issue with waiting lists when paying for a private consultation. However, patients without the resources are waiting for urgent diagnostic consultations and are not receiving them.
A spokesperson confirmed this week, “the HSE is seeking to recruit a consultant - there is a process in place now and we are advertising to fill this position, as consultants are not affected by the recruitment freeze. However, urgent cases will always be seen as a priority.”
