Hospital turns dialysis visitors away from county over ‘resources’
UK-BASED COUPLE WITH STRONG KERRY LINKS SAY THEY WILL HAVE TO SELL THEIR WATERVILLE HOLIDAY HOME OVER HOSPITAL’S REFUSAL OF DIALYSIS
VISITORS to Kerry in need of dialysis are being turned away from the county by a University Hospital Kerry (UHK) decision not to provide the life-saving service to anyone other than residents in a move criticised as ‘deeply unfair’.
UHK confirmed this week that it can no longer ‘safely deliver’ dialysis to everyone due to resource levels at the unit.
Now, one Castlemaine native and her husband who are based in London and were intending on arriving in Kerry shortly for a much-needed break say they will be forced to sell their beloved Waterville holiday home as a result of the hospital’s move.
“We’re going to have to sell our holiday home now after the hospital refused my husband the dialysis he would need three days a week while here,” Kathleen Hills (nee O’Brien) told The Kerryman.
“We also have a friend with a home in Portmagee who had arranged a ‘swap’ with someone on dialysis in Tralee. The man in Tralee had booked his car, hotel and flight and just two days before he was to come over the hospital cancelled the Portmagee man’s dialysis. It was disgusting,” Ms Hills said.
Mr Hills (70) has been receiving dialysis for the past two years and this would have been his first time back to Waterville since. The couple have travelled in other parts of Europe and never had any trouble accessing dialysis.
“It’s your loss as people come over with their families and it is the NHS here who would pay for it in Kerry and elsewhere. They’re losing money big time, the hospital is down big time as a result of the decision,” Ms Hills added.
Fianna Fáil Kerry Deputy John Brassil is very critical of the move. He said the decision flies in the face of long-standing reciprocal arrangements with other countries.
“My father was on dialysis for the last ten years of his life and never had a problem accessing it anywhere, whether in the UK or New York. Mr Hills and others are looking to simply access dialysis here for three days a week during their stay, but are being refused. This seems very unusual because of the reciprocal arrangement with other countries that allows Kerry patients to get dialysis when staying abroad.”
He said he believed the total cost to the hospital would be minimal. “I was of the belief that if someone wanted to visit the country and if they wanted to pay for it through private health care that it would be accommodated.”
Deputy Brassil also queried how the foreign requests could be putting a strain on the hospital’s operations: “I would imagine the number of requests from the UK is minimal.”
He is now raising the matter with the HSE and party colleague John Francis Flynn - who is in contact with the Hills - brought the matter to Council attention on Monday.