'People are having to wait a week for doctors' appointments'
Cllr Michael Burke
A Ballinrobe councillor has complained that it takes too long to get an appointment to see a doctor.
Cllr Michael Burke was commenting at last week's meeting of Mayo County Council when concerns were raised about strained services in towns due to the rise in population. He said it was time the Government “got smart and assessed capacity” before placing people in smaller urban centres.
“If I look for a doctor’s appointment in Ballinrobe, I will probably get it in a week’s time.”
Cllr Burke said he had met an elderly couple hours before the meeting who had a bad experience trying to see a doctor and were told to go online to make an appointment.
“We had only three GPs in Ballinrobe a few years ago, now we seem to have a huge amount but they seem to only work in specific timeframes. People don’t get sick on a specific timeframe, they get sick every day, and God help them if they fall ill on a Friday because then they will have to go to Westdoc.”
Cllr Richard Finn said too many medical professionals, including nurses, were leaving Ireland.
“We are exporting our own, they are in Australia because we are not paying them, and your father or mother or you or me can then end up being nursed for the last few years of your life by someone from thousands of miles away. It doesn’t seem right to me.”
- Published as part of the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.
