News
Two years waiting for chance of normal life
A Tuam teenager’s two year wait for treatment for scoliosis may well have now compromised the benefits of any medical intervention…if and when it happens.
That’s according to Galway East Deputy Colm Keaveney, who has called on the Minister for Health Leo Varadkar to intervene and speed up surgery for fifteen year old Sophie O’Grady.
Sophie O’Grady
Since the Tuam teen was added to the surgical waiting list in March 2014, her condition has deteriorated – and the Fianna Fail TD claimed it was now feared that some of her internal organs may be compromised.
“The frankly unacceptable waiting times have taken an emotional toil on Sophie and her family,” he said.
“She had been a student with an excellent record, but is now no longer able to attend school. There is a significant fear that any further delay in delivering Sophie’s treatment will impact on the effectiveness of the intervention.
“Her need for treatment is now urgent and it is not acceptable that Minister Varadkar should seek to hide behind the HSE Governance Act,” he added.
Sophie O’Grady was diagnosed with an 80 degree curvature of her spine in February 2014 and was recommended for surgery because of the severity of the illness.
Sophie and her mother Linda Watts eventually felt they had no option other than to take their fight for treatment to the steps of the Dail last May.
But even that simple day trip from Galway to Dublin left Sophie bed-ridden for several days from exhaustion and pain.
Her mother Linda has revealed the effect the interminable delay as had on her daughter.
“The emotional impact of having scoliosis is every bit as distressing and damaging as the physical effects. The change we have seen in Sophie in the past year has been dramatic. The confident, cheerful and bubbly teenager is now a withdrawn, introverted and despondent version of the girl she used to be,” she said.
“The old Sophie is still in there somewhere, weighed down by worries about having major surgery, about her education being jeopardised, about not being able to sleep properly, not being able to climb the stairs without feeling short of breath, and about how her clothes all look crooked on her. Waiting month after month for that phone call,” the mother of five added.
“Sophie’s case is only one of many cases affecting teenagers throughout the country. Sophie and her family took part in a protest outside the Dáil last May attempting to highlight the issue, but so far both the Department of Health and the HSE have failed to address the issue,” said Deputy Keaveney.
“When Fine Gael came into office, they set a target of six months for the maximum time someone would remain on a surgical waiting list.
“Their response to failing to reach this target has not been to provide greater resources or to reform the service, but instead simply to increase the targets to twelve and then to 18 months.
“Sophie is now waiting almost two years and so Minister Varadkar has failed to meet even his own widened targets.
“The Minister needs to intervene in this issue now or else detail why he is not willing to address this serious issue. Young people like Sophie have effectively had their lives put on hold at a critical moment in their development.
“This has come at a heavy cost to their mental and emotional health, alongside the potential long-term damage being done to their physical health,” he added.
Significant state investment is required to address ‘shocking’ inequalities that leave cancer patients in the West at greater risk of succumbing to the disease.
A meeting of Regional Health Forum West heard that survival rates for breast, lung and colorectal cancers than the national average, and with the most deprived quintile of the population, the West’s residents faced poorer outcomes from a cancer diagnosis.
For breast cancer patients, the five-year survival rate was 80% in the West versus 85% nationally; for lung cancer patients it was 16.7% in the west against a 19.5% national survival rate; and in the West’s colorectal cancer patients, there was a 62.6% survival rate where the national average was 63.1%.
These startling statistics were provided in answer to a question from Ballinasloe-based Cllr Evelyn Parsons (Ind) who said it was yet another reminder that cancer treatment infrastructure in the West was in dire need of improvement.
“The situation is pretty stark. In the Western Regional Health Forum area, we have the highest incidence of deprivation and the highest health inequalities because of that – we have the highest incidences of cancer nationally because of that,” said Cllr Parsons, who is also a general practitioner.
In details provided by CEO of Saolta Health Care Group, which operates Galway’s hospitals, it was stated that a number of factors were impacting on patient outcomes.
Get the full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune, on sale in shops now, or you can download the digital edition from www.connachttribune.ie. You can also download our Connacht Tribune App from Apple’s App Store or get the Android Version from Google Play.
On the eve of completing his 150th marathon, an odyssey that has taken him across 53 countries, Loughrea’s Marathon Man has announced that he is planning to hang up his running shoes.
But not before Jarlath Fitzgerald completes another ten races, making it 160 marathons on the occasion of his 60th birthday.
“I want to draw the line in 2026. I turn 57 in October and when I reach 60 it’s the finishing line. The longer races are taking it out of me. I did 20 miles there two weeks ago and didn’t feel good. It’s getting harder,” he reveals.
“I’ve arthritis in both hips and there’s wear and tear in the knees.”
We speak as he is about to head out for a run before his shift in Supervalu Loughrea. Despite his physical complaints, he still clocks up 30 miles every second week and generally runs four days a week.
Jarlath receives injections to his left hip to keep the pain at bay while running on the road.
To give his joints a break, during the winter he runs cross country and often does a five-mile trek around Kylebrack Wood.
He is planning on running his 150th marathon in Cork on June 4, where a group of 20 made up of work colleagues, friends and running mates from Loughrea Athletics Club will join him.
Some are doing the 10k, others are doing the half marathon, but all will be there on the finishing line to cheer him on in the phenomenal achievement.
Get the full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune, on sale in shops now, or you can download the digital edition from www.connachttribune.ie. You can also download our Connacht Tribune App from Apple’s App Store or get the Android Version from Google Play.
From the Galway City Tribune – An impassioned plea for a ‘masterplan’ that would guide Galway City into the future has been made in the Dáil. Galway West TD Catherine Connolly stated this week that there needed to be an all-inclusive approach with “vision and leadership” in order to build a sustainable city.
Deputy Connolly spoke at length at the crisis surrounding traffic and housing in Galway city and said that not all of the blame could be laid at the door of the local authority.
She said that her preference would be the provision of light rail as the main form of public transport, but that this would have to be driven by the government.
“I sat on the local council for 17 years and despaired at all of the solutions going down one road, metaphorically and literally. In 2005 we put Park & Ride into the development plan, but that has not been rolled out. A 2016 transport strategy was outdated at the time and still has not been updated.
“Due to the housing crisis in the city, a task force was set up in 2019. Not a single report or analysis has been published on the cause of the crisis,” added Deputy Connolly.
She then referred to a report from the Land Development Agency (LDA) that identified lands suitable for the provision of housing. But she said that two-thirds of these had significant problems and a large portion was in Merlin Park University Hospital which, she said, would never have housing built on it.
In response, Minister Simon Harris spoke of the continuing job investment in the city and also in higher education, which is his portfolio.
But turning his attention to traffic congestion, he accepted that there were “real issues” when it came to transport, mobility and accessibility around Galway.
“We share the view that we need a Park & Ride facility and I understand there are also Bus Connects plans.
“I also suggest that the City Council reflect on her comments. I am proud to be in a Government that is providing unparalleled levels of investment to local authorities and unparalleled opportunities for local authorities to draw down,” he said.
Then Minister Harris referred to the controversial Galway City Outer Ring Road which he said was “struck down by An Bord Pleanála”, despite a lot of energy having been put into that project.
However, Deputy Connolly picked up on this and pointed out that An Bord Pleanála did not say ‘No’ to the ring road.
“The High Court said ‘No’ to the ring road because An Bord Pleanála acknowledged it failed utterly to consider climate change and our climate change obligations.
“That tells us something about An Bord Pleanála and the management that submitted such a plan.”
In the end, Minister Harris agreed that there needed to be a masterplan for Galway City.
“I suggest it is for the local authority to come up with a vision and then work with the Government to try to fund and implement that.”
Families queue up for school’s offer of free house
West has lower cancer survival rates than rest
Galway minors continue to lay waste to all opponents
Gardaí and IFA issue a joint appeal on summer road safety
Marathon Man plans to call a halt – but not before he hits 160 races
