Sir, – Regina Hennelly’s letter (January 6th) makes very sad reading. That somebody in her position should be left without a medical card for over three months is indefensible. That nobody at the Medical Card Office in Finglas has looked at her application since its reception is almost unbelievable.
Could the matter not be solved at the stroke of a pen (ministerial, chief executive or lower down the line) decreeing that all medical cards should be renewed automatically until such time as the resources available to reassess them can be provided? Ms Hennelly’s plight illustrates how the most seriously disadvantaged in society suffer because of the Byzantine bureaucratic process that has developed within the centralised administrative systems created by the failed HSE experiment.
Is anybody in there listening? – Yours, etc,
Sir, – As a lifetime sufferer of a chronic illness I applied for a medical card in December 2010. I received an acknowledgment of my application about a week later. Since then I have had no communication whatsoever. I sent an e-mail to the HSE in October 2011 to which I receive an e-mail reply advising me that my inquiry had been escalated and that I could expect a response within 10 to 15 working days. I am still awaiting a decision on my application for a medical card some 12 months since I first applied. – Yours, etc,