THE Western Health Board has been accused of getting its priorities wrong after it was confirmed that a 20-year-old Co Galway man had been told it could be up to five years before his back injury is assessed. This follows confirmation earlier this week that the board is spending £120,000 on treatment for a 16-year-old sex offender in Britain.
The chairman of Galway County Council, Mr Willie Burke [(PD), said the delay in assessing and providing treatment for the man "while it was possible to find £120,000 for a 16-year-old sex offender at the drop of a hat, defies belief".
Mr Burke said he was dismayed to learn from the board that there was nothing that could be done for the medical-card holder. He would have to join an outpatient waiting list at the orthopaedic unit at Merlin Park Regional Hospital in Galway which already has more than 2,000 people on it.
"My understanding is that it will be anything up to five years before his condition is assessed, let alone treated," he said. "There is no system of even prioritising patients as far as I can see. When you see that the health board is prepared to spend £120,000 a year on getting treatment in Britain for a sex offender, it is scandalous."
He said the man, who is currently out of work because of the injury, had been deemed in casualty to be "an urgent case", but on contacting the hospital he had been told that there was nothing that could be done but to join the queue. This was despite representations by his GP and Mr Burke.
It was hard to reconcile, Mr Burke said, that possibly up to 25 urgent orthopaedic cases could be dealt with for £120,000.
Health board figures show 4,614 people on the out-patient waiting list at Merlin Park Hospital, Galway, at the end of 1995.