The HSE has confirmed it made “a number” of appointments for a non-existent doctor at the Midland Regional Hospital Mullingar over the last seven months but claimed this was just to keep a consultant list ongoing until a replacement can be recruited.
However, it was not able to give any answer to the “how long is a piece of string?” question about when a replacement might be in situ, only confirming the position would be advertised again in “ the coming weeks”.
Last week Deputy James Bannon (FG ) highlighted the plight of a patient whose appointment had been cancelled five times in this period, a practice described by the TD as “a scam and an outrage”.
However, the Health Service Executive (HSE ) has stressed that urgent and paediatric cases have been referred to another specialist in a Dublin hospital.
“The appointment system in place in the hospital currently is such that to maintain a patient on a consultant list for an appointment, it must be scheduled even though there is no consultant available, a spokesperson for the HSE said.
“As a result a number of patients have had their appointments rescheduled however the process will ensure that once the vacant post is filled, those waiting can be guaranteed an appointment”.
The first consultant dermatologist (skin specialist ) for the Midlands’ area was appointed to the hospital in Mullingar in September 2007, and proceeded to develop services.
Unfortunately, this doctor decided to accept an offer of employment in a large teaching hospital in Dublin and resigned her post in February.
“The HSE sought on a number of occasions to recruit a temporary replacement without success as there were no suitable applications for the post,” said the spokesperson.
“In an effort to encourage applications for the post, discussions have taken place with a major teaching hospital in Dublin with a view to expanding the remit of the post.
“As a result of these discussions, it is intended to advertise the permanent restructured post within the coming weeks.
“In the meantime, some patients who required urgent treatment have been seen in Dublin and arrangements have also been made for children to be treated in Dublin.”
The HSE would not reveal how many patients had been affected, but it is believed to be less than 15.
Only one person has had five rescheduled appointments.
