Man faces blindness after cancelled clinics

A 35-year-old north county Dublin man who is in danger of losing his sight due to diabetic eye disease has been forced to wait 16 months for a public outpatient appointment at the eye department of Dublin's Mater Hospital.

Chris Murphy has had vital eye clinic appointments cancelled twice in the past year and cannot get another appointment until this September.

The Mater Hospital says it is currently looking at ways to deal with heavy demand for its ophthalmology services.

Mr Murphy told irishhealth.com that since he returned to Ireland from the UK in 2007 he has found it impossible to get an appointment to see a specialist at the public eye clinic at the Mater.

He has had diabetes since he was 12 and is suffering from the eye disease related to diabetes, diabetic retinopathy. He fears that without regular appointments at the eye clinic, changes in his right eye will not be noticed and a blood vessel could rupture in his eye and cause loss of vision.

Chris says this is what happened with his left eye back in 2000. Back then, he says, appointments at the Mater were cancelled and eventually he lost the sight of his left eye. After he subsequently moved to the UK, the sight in this eye was restored following surgery.

Now he fears he may again be threatened with sight loss due to his difficulties in accessing the public eye clinic at the Mater.

"Without regular checks they cannot see any danger signs, which if untreated by laser, might cause loss of vision as in 2000."

After waiting more than six months for an eye appointment scheduled for May 28, 2008 at the Mater, Mr Murphy was written to by the hospital shortly before the appointment time and informed that his appointment was cancelled as the clinic was "severely overbooked".

A new appointment was arranged for December 3 2008, just over six months later.

However, rather than wait for this length of time to see a specialist, Mr Murphy attended the emergency eye clinic at the Mater shortly after the cancellation.

He says following his attendance at the emergency department, he was given a new appointment with the eye clinic for March 11, 2009 and told to attend the emergency eye department if there was any deterioration
in the meantime.

However, the March 2009 appointment was also cancelled. Mr Murphy was written to by the hospital and told that this appointment had been cancelled, again due to severe overbooking, and a new appointment had been arranged for September 16 2009, six months later, and a full 16 months after his initial appointment was made.

In the meantime, Mr Murphy says, the sight in his right eye is in danger of deteriorating rapidly. "So far there has been no serious deterioration but that can change, and I am afraid that what happened to me in 2000 when appointments were cancelled will happen again."

He says he is increasingly concerned about his condition, and is now trying to arrange an appointment at Beaumont Hospital in Dublin.

Mr Murphy says he has contacted the Mater on a number of occasions in an attempt to get his appointments moved forward but to no avail. While he does not have private insurance, he says he may consider trying to raise the money to pay for private care.

"I may even have to move back to the UK eventually, because as a person with diabetes, I feel my life expectancy will be much lower in Ireland."

He said back in 2000, when he previously lived in Ireland, he was losing sight in his left eye but his eye appointments at the Mater were cancelled.

When he moved to the UK the eye was operated on and his sight improved. Mr Murphy said he received
excellent treatment when he attended Moorfields Eye Hospital in London.

Mr Murphy says the contrast between the UK and Irish health service is startling.

"The diabetes and eye services are under severe pressure here. I don't feel I'll ever be seen in the Mater no matter how long I wait. In the meantime, my sight is deteriorating. As far as I am concerned it is the Mater's fault that I face losing my sight."

Mr Murphy feels the Government has done very little to invest in proper diabetes screening and treatment services. He has raised his case with Fine Gael health spokesman Dr James Reilly.

"By not investing in services now, it will cost the State more in the longer term in terms of a rise in the level of illnesses associated with diabetes, such as heart disease and blindness," Mr Murphy said.

In response, the Mater Hospital told irishhealth.com that its ophthalmology service is exceptionally busy, with approximately 30,000 outpatient attendances and 2,000 surgical cases in 2008. 

A spokesman said clinic appointments can be cancelled as a result of being displaced by urgent walk-in cases from the eye casualty department as well as time overruns due to the high volumes of patients attending the clinic.

A management review group has been established by the hospital to consider what changes can be made to deal with the demand for ophthalmology services, the spokesman added.

[Posted: Mon 18/05/2009]