A woman who has been diagnosed with non-Hodgkins Lymphoma and requires chemo therapy treatment for her condition was twice yesterday refused admission to the Mater Hospital in Dublin, the High Court has been told. The woman was informed that no bed was available for her.
In an affidavit, Mrs Janette Byrne (39), of Finglas Park, Dublin, whose case has twice been raised in the Dail, said that she was required to have at least seven sessions of chemotherapy after undergoing an eight-hour operation in the Mater Hospital on February 3rd. She was told then that her form of cancer was treatable and she was hopeful of recovery if she received timely treatment.
According to her counsel, Ms Siobhan Phelan, when Mrs Byrne twice telephoned the hospital yesterday for her ongoing treatment, she was informed on both occasions that no bed was available and she was asked to call again today.
On practically every occasion she had sought admission to the hospital for treatment, in accordance with a scheme prescribed by her doctor, the hospital had failed to admit her, and there had been delays in securing treatment, Mrs Byrne stated.
As the holder of a medical card and as a citizen who had paid tax and PRSI contributions all her working life, she had been advised that she had full eligibility for medical services provided under the Health Act.
While she understood that State resources were not limitless, she could not accept that the requirement on the hospital, the Eastern Regional Health Board, the Ministers for Health and Finance and the State to provide health services did not also include an obligation to provide chemotherapy in accordance with the treatment set out for her.
Mrs Byrne stated that she was "terrified" because of the delays in getting treatment. "I felt that, while I was at home waiting for a bed, the tumour was growing again. I had been advised my cancer was treatable but that time was of the essence, and that it was important to adhere to my treatment programme. I was afraid I would die because of the delay in my treatment.
"The delay caused me huge distress and anguish and I could not believe that in modern Ireland, where we hear daily of the Celtic Tiger economy, that the State was unable to provide me with basic and necessary treatment for cancer."
Mrs Byrne acknowledged that there was no dedicated oncology ward in the Mater and that the hospital was required to take admissions from Accident and Emergency as well as other categories of cases. As a result, the hospital was unable to control its own admissions or to ensure efficient bed management for the treatment of cancer patients.
Mrs Byrne, who has a 19-year-old son and who was until recently self-employed as a distributor of catering equipment, said that although she had a life-threatening illness, medical knowledge and expertise to treat it were readily available.
Insofar as the respondents had failed to exercise their statutory powers in a reasonable manner and had failed to ensure her right to healthcare, they were contravening the statutory code governing the health service, she claimed. They were also failing to vindicate her personal right to necessary medical treatment and her right to life, as protected by the Constitution.
Ms Phelan said that her client had suffered mental anguish, distress, loss and damage, and she asked for leave to bring judicial review proceedings against all the respondents.
In those proceedings she would be seeking an injunction directing the respondents, their servants or agents, to immediately make available to Mrs Byrne and her medical team the necessary resources for the treatment of her cancer.
Granting the application, Mr Justice Butler said that the matter could be raised in the court again tomorrow.