In recent months I came across an example of a patient from Quigley's Point in Inishowen, County Donegal, who left Letterkenny General Hospital in the back of an ambulance, accompanied by two paramedics and a nurse at 4.30 a.m. to arrive in Dublin for a 9.30 a.m. appointment. He waited for an anaesthetist for two hours only to find out that the anaesthetist would not be turning up. He arrived back in Letterkenny General Hospital at 8 p.m. following the return journey, which was a 15 hour round trip. That example highlights the simple errors that could be avoided within the health system. It is an indication that the system is not working when a man aged over 70 was required to make a 15 hour trip only to find out that an anaesthetist was unavailable. It is evidence of a lack of care within the system in terms of getting that information to Letterkenny before the gentleman in question had to endure an arduous journey.

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