Ennis woman put on HSE two-year ‘soon’ list

Wednesday, 07 January 2009

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Bernie English

AN Ennis woman, who has been diagnosed with a potentially fatal blood disease, has been told she will have to wait two years for treatment for her condition.
In a reply to her GP’s referral letter, the Health Services Executive told Teresa Carter from Drumbiggle that she has been placed on the SOON waiting list.
In their letter, the HSE said: “It is anticipated that you will be seen in twenty four months approximately.”
Teresa told The Clare People, “I was shocked - when I saw what they named the waiting list, I thought someone was pulling my leg. If twenty-four months is soon, I’d hate to see what they call late.”
The Drumbiggle woman has been attending her GP for a number of health problems and a routine test for another condition revealed she is suffering from Haemochromeatosis, a condition in which too much iron is stored in the liver.
One of the treatments includes the simple drawing off of blood to reduce iron levels.
“This is a condition which if left untreated means I could die. I’ve been very worried since I got the letter. Two years seems like an awful long time to wait to be treated or even seen by an expert in that field,” Teresa said.
Teresa showed the letter to her GP “but he didn’t seem to think anything could be done about it”.
The Clare People contacted the HSE and faxed a copy of the letter back to them as well as emailing a query to their spokesman, but at the time of going to press, no response was available.
The spokesman said he is not aware of what the SOON list is and is awaiting a response to the two-year predicted time frame.
The condition can cause damage to various organs in the body and can be very serious if the liver has been damaged. Sufferers are mostly treated by having a number of pints of blood extracted.
The condition is genetic and is only found in a tiny minority of people throughout the world, except for the Celtic nations along the Atlantic fringe of Europe, most particularly Ireland. Estimates are that somewhere between 11 per cent to 25 per cent of the Irish have this mutation. Many think it goes back to the Irish Potato Famine of the 1840’s when only those with this genetic mutation survived because they had so much iron in their system.

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