Tony Gregory (Dublin Central, Independent)

I support the motion to put patient safety at the heart of the health services. I want to use my time to draw attention to an issue of patient safety, albeit not in the context of a social care facility.

Recently, one of my constituents began to lose the sight in her eyes. Using her medical card, she attended her GP, who advised her to see a specialist as quickly as possible. The GP wrote to the Mater hospital on her behalf and she then tried to make an appointment. She was told there was a long waiting list and that she might not be reached until October 2007.

This alarmed her greatly as her eyesight was deteriorating rapidly. She contacted my office and I tried to assist her. However, not even the National Treatment Purchase Fund could secure an appointment for her. The reality was that as she was on a low income and had a medical card, she would be obliged to wait irrespective of the urgency of her condition. This lady waited for a number of months to no avail. She then arranged to borrow the necessary money, contacted the Mater Private Hospital and was then able to make an immediate appointment. The consultant confirmed the seriousness of her condition and made arrangements for the necessary treatment with his team. The moral of the story is that at present, if one is on low pay and has a medical card in Ireland, under the Government's two-tier health service one can go blind while waiting for treatment. However, if one has the money, one can receive such treatment immediately.

In a follow-up parliamentary question, I asked the Minister to arrange for the HSE to reimburse my constituent with the several hundred euro she had borrowed and that she was obliged to pay to secure the initial appointment. This was bluntly refused by the Minister in her reply to the Dáil. This constitutes inequality, Progressive Democrats-style, in this House and it can only be addressed by political change in this State.

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