Ms Olive McCafferty:

I do not mind speaking to that as well, from a practitioner point of view. If a patient is prescribed 40 cylinders per month, they are only delivered every week. The patients have to ring every week or every two weeks to ask for the next delivery even though they are entitled to it. There are patients being told there is no driver coming their way for the next week so they cannot leave the house then, because they do not have oxygen to leave the house. These patients are at the mercy of these companies - which are doing their best, I can see that - but there should be a more streamlined service for these patients so they do not have to get reimbursed every month. They are being asked for the same thing every month and waiting for a cheque to come in the post to pay off their credit card bills. Surely there could be a more streamlined service similar to drugs at the pharmacy. Patients cannot leave the house unless they have oxygen. It is essential and it is not seen at present that it is an essential drug. These patients are being told to wait. I have had patients ringing me from car parks unable to leave because they do not have oxygen. They are stranded in a car park because they have run out of oxygen.