A Kilkee native Consultant insists that steps urgently need to be taken to tackle waiting times for treatment for women’s health issues.
It follows the revelation that Ennis General Hospital has the second highest wait time for gynaecology appointments in the country.
Figures released to Sinn Fein show there are just shy of 600 women on the waiting list for an outpatient gynaecology appointment at Ennis General Hospital.
The average waiting time for those appointments is currently close to one year and five months, which is second only to Tallaght Hospital.
Waiting times at University Hospital Limerick average out at 291 days, with a further 1,455 awaiting a consultation there.
Women’s Health Camapaigner and former Mayor of Clare, Mary Howard has expressed shock over the lengthy waiting times and says womens’ collective failure to speak up about it, is part of the problem.
A Kilkee Consultant says there’s an urgent need to deal with the lengthy wait times, saying the problem was evident prior to the pademic and has now become compounded.
Aoife Ní Eochaidh, who’s a Chartered Physiotherapist for Women and Men’s Health and Continence at the Bon Secours in Galway says there has been a 100% increase in the numbers attending her clinic because they can’t access care publicly.
She says the kind of problems these women are seeking treatment for are really affecting their quality of life and can be dealt with, if investigated on time.
