Patients were offered counselling, says social worker

A senior social worker at St James's Hospital, Dublin, has rejected claims by some haemophiliacs and their next-of-kin that they were denied counselling services after testing positive for HIV.

Ms Maeve Foreman told the Lindsay tribunal yesterday she had examined 35 witness statements to the inquiry which referred to 25 patients. Of these, 20 were known to the social work unit and had been seen at least once by a social worker.

She said many patients were offered counselling but refused it. Others may not have informed their next-of-kin that they availed of services, which were confidential in nature.

Among the cases cited was that of Vincent, a 35-year-old haemophiliac who told the tribunal last year he had not received any counselling after his diagnosis with HIV in 1987.

Ms Foreman said, however, Vincent was seen a couple of times in 1987 and offered a service but he turned it down.

In the case of Donal, whose wife Siobhan told the tribunal they were "sent out" from the hospital without assistance, Ms Foreman said support was offered but "like a lot of people [Donal] coped by staying away".

Ms Foreman accepted, however, that counselling services at the hospital for infected haemophiliacs were inadequate, and this was acknowledged at the time. Between 1985 and 1988, numerous requests were made to the Department of Health for funding for extra social workers, to no avail.

An allocation of £15,000 from lottery funds was made in July 1988, which Ms Foreman said was considered a good starting point at the time. However, the hospital was still unable to provide the service it desired.

Under cross-examination by Mr Raymond Bradley, solicitor for the Irish Haemophilia Society, Ms Foreman said some of the psychological distress caused might have been alleviated if services had been introduced earlier.