New figures show Clare patients are losing out in a postcode lottery when it comes to a relatively common surgical procedure.
Clare residents waiting to have their tonsils removed face delays that are three times longer than in other counties.
A tonsillectomy is one of the most common forms of surgey for children in particular, and can be recommended after frequent bouts of tonsillitis are diagnosed.
In Clare, there are currently 37 people waiting for the procedure, for an average time of 283 days each, or just over 9 months.
Only patients in Donegal, Leitrim and Sligo have longer waits, and by contrast people in Cork, Louth, Laois and Wicklow are all waiting an average of under 100 days.
Minister Simon Harris has provided the figures to Aontú’s Peadar Tóibín, but there’s no explanation for the delays.
He’s also revealed, however, that many people are waiting even longer than the figure outlined, with 12 of the 37 patients waiting for over a year and four of them for at least 18 months.
