Waiting lists: Long waiting lists in public clinics has led to the opening of a new sexually transmitted infection (STI) screening service for men, according to The Well Woman Centre.
The service, which will be available by the end of March, is aimed at husbands and partners of women attending the centre.
The demand for screening has "grown dramatically over the last two years", said Well Woman Centre chief executive Alison Begas. Currently, the clinic carries out 150 screenings per month and charges 145 per patient. An "eight-week wait and having to take a half-day off work" to attend public STI clinics in Dublin has added to the demand, she added.
Since January, the Irish Family Planning Association (IFPA) has been offering a full STI screening service in its Cathal Brugha Street clinic in Dublin. IFPA medical director Dr Sheila Jones said it was established "mainly in response to the eight-week waiting list in St James's Hospital". The fee for the service is €140 but Dr Jones noted that in St James's, investigations are free.
There is a similar wait for screening in the Mater Hospital Dublin. Consultant in infectious diseases there, Dr Gerard Sheehan, said "part of the difficulty is that the public STI services are somewhat unique because the bulk of patients don't go to a GP initially and are encouraged to go to a specific clinic".
Limited space and difficulties getting funding have also contributed to waiting lists. "I have fought as hard as I can. It's frustrating but you can't make a purse out of a sow's ear," Dr Sheehan said. In July, the Mater is to receive three or four more rooms and a new infectious diseases consultant has been appointed. This will mean "an increase in capacity for STI screening", he said.
Figures released by the National Disease Surveillance Centre (NDSC) last month show there were "207 newly diagnosed cases of HIV infection" in the first six months of 2003. Ann Nolan, executive director of Dublin Aids Alliance, said there was a 32 per cent rise in the first six months of 2003 on the same period in 2002. "The number of people testing positive is increasing phenomenally every year."
Dr Sheehan says, "The bulk of HIV is in fairly well-defined risk groups." His greatest concern is that "people who recognise an STI and think about getting it dealt with, spend a few months waiting". He is also concerned about the possible spread of infection while they are waiting.
Waiting lists are not unique to STI clinics in Dublin. Dr Emer MacHale, co-ordinator of STI Services Western Health Board, says she has seen a 20 per cent rise in people coming to be tested every year. "People with no symptoms are coming to be screened," she says. The waiting list of three weeks "isn't too bad as clinics go" and extra clinics are put on in Galway when needed.
The appointment of a new infectious diseases consultant, Dr Catherine Fleming, to the region last January, means people with HIV no longer have to travel to Dublin for treatment.
In Limerick Regional Hospital, where there is a six-week waiting list for STI screening, Dr Catherine O'Connor, director of genito urinary sexually transmitted disease, says "the service is difficult [for the public\] to access, while the staff are overworked".
According to the Department of Health: "Additional funding for 2004 has been allocated to the HIV/AIDS/STI services."
It said it would "continue to closely monitor the position in relation to the treatment facilities, especially in view of the increased demand for services".