Ambulance service too slow for sick pensioner

A woman who cares for her elderly parents has hit out at an ambulance service which has led to her octogenarian mother – in the midst of cancer treatment – missing a succession of crucial hospital appointments.

Patricia McGettigan is furious at the treatment meted out to her mother, Maisie Barrett from Inverin, which she says is deteriorating rapidly by the week.

Maisie, 80, needs to be transported on a stretcher as she cannot walk or use a wheelchair so an ambulance is her only means of travel.

She relies on the ambulance to get to and from University Hospital Galway for three monthly check-ups. But at least three times she has missed appointments due to the late arrival of the rig, two of them in six weeks.

Patricia says it takes up to two days to prepare her mother for these hospital visits due to fasting, showering and changing the room around so that the crew can get in. It also causes a great deal of stress.

“The frustrating thing about it is that her chart will say that she is a ‘no show’ even though her not turning up is not her fault,” Patricia explained.

“I have seen this deterioration of service in the past two years due to cut backs in the HSE. The ambulance service told us that their priority was to decant the hospital and free up beds in the emergency department and they cannot guarantee that patients get to their appointments on time, they do not have the resources.”

The regular check-ups involve blood tests, scans and appointments with the oncologist.

The carer said that another family member had to be organised to mind her immobile father when she accompanied her mother to hospital appointments, which was another arrangement that had to be taken into account.

Not only is Patricia a carer, she is also a de facto nurse, administrating medications and giving injections, including chemotherapy.

“My mother has a progressive illness and she needs to be seen at regular intervals by the oncology team. I despair that the situation is going to get worse, not better,” she exclaimed.

She has written to Health Minister Leo Varadkar and is awaiting a response.

“I am very angry with the system, not the nursing staff or ambulance men and women who come to our door – they are fantastic,” she insists.

“Is this the system we have now – that the ambulance service need confirmation of a patient’s medical needs so they themselves can prioritise the urgency of an appointment over the consultants and the medical teams?”