Bus to Belfast puts the HSE to shame

LESS than a week has passed since this newspaper reported on the harrowing case of pensioner John Patrick Harrington.

The 90-year-old, who was already blind in one eye, endured a 1,000km round trip from West Cork to Belfast for a cataract operation on his good eye.

But despite the upheaval involved, it was well worth the trip because Mr Harrington’s only other option was a four-year wait on a HSE list and, of course, he would have risked losing his sight entirely.

Now Mr Harrington’s son Jerry is offering to drive up to 12 other cataract patients to Belfast for the same procedure.

Waiting lists for the surgery are longest in the Cork and Kerry region.

Of course, this is to be greatly welcomed. But the bottom line is that he shouldn’t have to do something that is the responsibility of the health authorities here.

It is not as if we are talking about a trivial procedure here that is only carried out for cosmetic purposes. Quite the opposite. Even more salient is the fact that cataracts require early intervention.

Granted, the cost of surgery in the North is reimbursed within five weeks under the terms of the Cross Border Directive on Healthcare. But what about the people who don’t have the money to pay upfront? Even if any of this was acceptable, it is worth remembering that Jerry is just one man. There is only a finite number of people that he can transport to Belfast.

Countless others languish on waiting lists for treatment that may come too late for them. Like so much else in our health service, that is an absolute disgrace.