A north Galway doctor said she has been forced to run her surgery by candlelight and to conduct examinations of patients using a head-torch on occasion in recent months because of electricity cuts in her area.
Dr Mary Rogan, general practitioner in Annaghdown, Co Galway, said yesterday the power cuts had been occurring for six months but on a very frequent basis since last November.
Many of the cuts have occurred before notification arrived by post from the ESB, she said.
The doctor estimated that the cuts have been occurring at an average rate of once a fortnight.
Dr Rogan said she had tried to contact the ESB about the problem but had been greeted by answering machines. She has now written to the company. When she did get to speak to an official, she was told to "run away like a good girl, and let the men do their job".
She said it was ironic that the cuts were happening when the ESB was running an advertising campaign advising people, especially the elderly who are prone to hypothermia, to keep at least one room warm and to have the facilities for warm drinks and hot food.
Dr Rogan said she believed that the poor level of communication and service was partly due to the contracting out of services by the ESB.
Some of her patients had advised her to buy a generator as back-up, but she refused to do so on principle.
At one point, she received a €35 refund from the ESB over lack of notice and she had it framed and hung on her wall.
A spokesman for the ESB said yesterday it apologised sincerely for any lack of notice for cuts, which were occurring more frequently during the network renewal programme.
The ESB was continually reviewing its customer communications with a view to improvements, he said.
Any customer who did not receive 48 hours' notice of a power cut was eligible for payment under the customer service charter.
The ESB spokesman said it was also reviewing its communication with customers with medical needs, in conjunction with the Commissioner for Energy Regulation.
Options being considered included provision of dedicated phone lines, the spokesman said.
