Madam, - Last September I saw a consultant surgeon at St James's hospital and left with an undertaking that an appointment would be made for my admission to the hospital in the near future. When, by January of this year, I hadn't heard from the hospital, I contacted the surgeon's secretary, who called me back within minutes with a date in early March.
On the day in question I contacted the hospital's admissions office at 10:30am, as arranged, only to be told that no elective beds were available and I was being rescheduled to April 4th, last Tuesday. On that day, I again contacted the admissions office to be told that, again, no beds were available. The following afternoon, in response to a reminder call from me, a new date was set, April 25th and the admissions official apologetically told me that this, too, is a "provisional" appointment.
On each postponement, it was clear that I was far from being the only person affected by this phenomenon. So, quite apart from the difficulties apparent in A&E, there is a chronic shortage of ward beds for elective procedures of all kinds. In his 2003 Budget speech, delivered in late 2002, the then Minister for Finance announced a cap on public service numbers, with an intent to reduce numbers by 5,000 over five years. It is obvious that this cap, and the target of staff reductions, is having a catastrophic effect on the ability of hospitals to deliver even routine services.
With nurses leaving the service because they cannot get permanent posts, beds must obviously be closed to protect the safety of those lucky few who actually manage to achieve admission. It beggars belief for the current Minister for Health to say, under these circumstances and at a time when the population is growing at a pace not seen since the early 19th century, that there is not a shortage of beds. - Yours, etc,
MICK MOLLOY, Castlewood Close, Dublin 6.