Derek Nolan (Galway West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I reiterate my compliments to the staff working in the hospital on the dramatic improvement in many of its services. I regret that the Minister of State, Deputy Jan O'Sullivan, must respond to the issue and that the Minister for Health could not be present to respond because what I raise is extremely important. People to whom I have spoken have rung the pain clinic on a weekly basis. Their doctors have written to the pain clinic asking for speedier referrals and treatment to no avail. I contend that some of the information provided by the Department of Health in the response is slightly inaccurate. It is not something many of those I have met experience. While I appreciate the sentiment of the response, that alone will not solve the problem. The problem is clear. There are two consultants and we need more. There are three clinical nurses and we need more. The reality is that those on the waiting list for the pain clinic in Galway are in pain. They are not waiting for a diagnosis; they are in pain and are seeking treatment for the pain. Each additional week they wait is an extra week in pain. Each additional month they wait is another month in pain. In some circumstances those who are waiting are immobile while others are in agony.

I am not happy with the answer I received. I appreciate that the issue does not relate to the Minister of State's brief. I urge her to speak to the Minister for Health, Deputy Reilly, explain the details of the cases I have raised, in particular the case to which I referred in my initial statement, and ask him to put a specific plan in place, perhaps via a special delivery unit or by agreement with hospital management in the Galway University Hospitals, to deal with the severe delays and frustrations experienced by patients in pain while they wait for pain clinic appointments. In many cases they suffer so much that their lives are debilitated.

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