A MAYO teenager and her mother who travelled to Crumlin Children’s hospital in Dublin from Mayo for an outpatient appointment were told on arrival that all outpatient clinics were cancelled this week due to cutbacks.
Shona Just (16) is a teenager coping with lupus and juvenile arthritis. Her appointment last Tuesday was to assess her eyes because of the level of medication she is taking for her ailments.
Yesterday Shona’s mother Mary Just said she was shocked at the cancellation and not being informed about it in advance.
“Shona is in constant pain but she gets on with life and rarely complains. A train journey of more than three hours from Castlebar to Dublin really takes it out of Shona but we are always glad to travel to the capital for any treatment that might enhance her quality of life. Throughout her illness we have received wonderful medical assistance,” she said.
“On Tuesday my mother and myself travelled to Crumlin with Shona. We had originally been given an appointment for a date in July but that was postponed and we were given August 25th for an appointment.
‘‘We left Castlebar on the 7.15am train and were in the outpatient department of Crumlin at 1.10pm on Tuesday for a 1.30pm appointment.
“On arrival we all noticed that the shutters were closed at the desk, but thought the staff were gone to lunch. There were three other patients with family members waiting in the waiting room when a man emerged and said that the outpatient department at the hospital is closed this week and we should all have received letters informing us of the change.
“We were all shocked and we all replied we had received no letter cancelling our children’s appointments”, she added.
“Serious questions have to be asked as Ministers and TDs can spend scandalous amounts of taxpayers’ money on travel and junkets and yet Crumlin hospital does not have funds to provide a vital outpatient service to sick children this week,” she said.
A hospital spokeswoman said she could not discuss individual patients but she said all patients with outpatient appointments this week in the hospital were notified of cancellations.
She said this week’s cancellation of outpatient clinics was taken in light of the existing pressure on hospital funding and explained the hospital announced last June that three weeks have been selected for outpatient restrictions. They are this week (August 24th-28th, inclusive), October 26th-30th and December 23rd-January 4th.
A further protest over cuts at Crumlin hospital is planned for this Saturday at 1pm outside the hospital. Teresa Shallow of the Save Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital Campaign, which is organising the protest, said they will be demanding that all cuts at the hospital be reversed.