Derek Nolan (Galway West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to speak about this very important issue. Before I address it, I commend the Minister for Health for the work he has done with regard to the Galway-Roscommon hospital group which is making significant strides in tackling some long outstanding performance issues. The new management team is achieving great results in reducing inpatient waiting lists and times, the emergency department count and trolley figures. It is a tribute to the chief executive officer, Mr. Bill Maher, and the chief operations officer, Mr. Tony Canavan, but also to the co-operation of staff, nurses and doctors who are putting their shoulders to the wheel in delivering improvements, achieving efficiencies and finding new ways of working. They all deserve recognition and credit for their hard work and commitment.

However, while we have seen positive results in some areas of the health service in Galway, it is a harsh reality that waiting times in other areas remain unacceptable. I refer specifically to the urgent need to address the waiting times for the pain clinics in University Hospital Galway and Merlin Park University Hospital. The waiting times in both are totally unacceptable and are causing extreme distress and discomfort to many people who are in dire need of medical attention. I commend the staff who work in the pain clinics in the health service for the helpful and co-operative fashion in which they have dealt with queries from my office. According to statistics I received yesterday, there are now 583 people waiting for an appointment, with the longest wait time being since August 2010.

I have met with many people in Galway who have turned to me for help, completely exasperated with the delays in attending the pain clinics. One constituent who came to me for help and to highlight his plight was a gentleman who was diagnosed with fibromyalgia and who suffers pain in all 18 tender points in his body. His condition has deteriorated in recent years but this year has been his worst to date. Almost every week there are at least three nights where he literally does not sleep and cannot even face going to bed because the pain is so bad. He used to have a photographic memory and was a successful computer programmer. He now suffers from chronic muscle pain in his joints and nerves and regularly experiences memory loss. This man has been waiting since the start of the year to get an appointment at the pain clinic in University Hospital Galway. He was added to the waiting list on the 3 January 2012. Today is the 24 October, almost ten months down the line and he is still waiting. He is still suffering tremendous pain, and he is still fighting to maintain a decent quality of life. Since January he has had one pain free day - one day in ten months that he did not have chronic pain in his joints and nerves.

Other cases have been presented to me of patients with chronic back pain. Another constituent with severe multiple sclerosis was forced to wait months for an injection that would restore mobility, the ability to work from home and dignity to her life. She was once able to receive the injections she so badly needs every eight weeks but now the service has been scaled back. In the meantime she is confined to bed, dependent on her family and unable to function properly.

I am aware of the challenges that face the Department of Health and the Ministers in the Department. The HSE has always suffered administratively and I believe the promised reforms will tackle some of the problems. However, the waiting times for the pain clinic at Galway University Hospital had gone way beyond what is acceptable for a health service. People who are in chronic pain are waiting for an appointment to give them some slight relief from medical conditions which have dominated their lives. I ask the Minister of State to ask the Minister for Health to make a commitment to tackle the problem. It is extremely unfair to expect people who are living with debilitating pain to wait an intolerable length of time to get the treatment and relief they deserve.

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