A North Clare GP fears the failure to resume inpatient and outpatient appointments at Midwest Hospitals will have serious consequences for patient health.
New figures from the NTPF shows the number of people waiting at least a year and a half for an appointment at University Hospital Limerick and Ennis General jumped by a quarter between January and May to over 12,700.
Hospital services have been scaled back during the Covid-19 pandemic and Dr Billy O’Connell says lengthy waiting lists have resulted in people showing up to the ED with acute conditions that should have been managed at outpatient clinics.
He’s been telling Clare FM’s Fiona Cahill that the Midwest will have to be treated separately to the rest of the country, when it comes to managing waiting lists, due to unique circumstances here.
