Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Vincent Browne had a People's Debate in Wexford on Monday night. A man called George McAnaspie stood up and said that when his wife Mary had gone to Wexford General Hospital in December 2014 with pneumonia, she had waited 12 hours in the accident and emergency department before being told it would be another four hours before she could be seen. The couple missed their bus back to Ferns. Mary was too sick to wait any longer in the accident and emergency unit and left to go to her sister's house. The couple went to Florida a few weeks later in December to see their children and Mary collapsed with heart failure. She had a triple heart bypass operation in America, followed by an operation to install a pacemaker a few days later. Pneumonia resurfaced three weeks ago on 15 October and Mary ended up having to spend ten days in Wexford General Hospital with congestive heart failure and pneumonia. At that time, her husband received letters stating their medical cards were under review. He sent off two letters outlining the details of Mary's condition. He arrived home to find two GP visit cards in the post. He went to the pharmacy to buy monthly medication and was informed that the medical cards had been stopped while under review and replaced with GP visit cards, which cannot be used to purchase medication. Mary's medication costs between €500 and €600 every month and the couple cannot afford it. The medical card application is currently under review and the couple expects a decision in the next week or so. I do not need to add very much other than the fact that the HSE is seriously dysfunctional and may be beyond repair.

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