Patients waiting up to four years for an appointment with dermatologist at SUH

THERE are 3,500 patients awaiting their first dermatology appointment at Sligo University Hospital (SUH), with patients seeking a routine appointment possibly forced to wait up to four years for an appointment.

This was “clearly unacceptable” Councillor Declan Bree said this week when he described the dermatology service in the hospital as “a shambles”.

Cllr Bree told last week’s meeting of the Regional Health Forum West there are more than 3,500 patients awaiting their first appointment, that the unfilled Consultant Dermatologist post has not been advertised and all dermatology clinics in the hospital have now been cancelled because of a lack of secretarial staff.

This, he said, was clearly unacceptable and he added: “I was amazed to discover there are now in excess of 3,500 patients awaiting their first dermatology appointment in the hospital, with hundreds of new referrals from Sligo and Letterkenny each month.

“Yet the longstanding unfilled Consultant Dermatologist post in the hospital has not been re-advertised by the management despite it being agreed to six months ago,” Cllr Bree continued.

“To add to the crisis, all dermatology clinics in the hospital have now been cancelled because of a lack of secretarial staff.

“This clearly can and will have huge implications for patients who may have significant skin disease and skin cancer.

“In March this year when I submitted a question to this forum on day-case waiting lists at Sligo University Hospital, we were advised that there were 30 patients waiting from 0 to three months on the dermatology service waiting list and only two patients waiting three to six months.

“However, I have now learned that there are 3,500 patients awaiting their first appointment, with patients seeking a routine appointment possibly having to wait up to four years for an appointment.

“It is the public patients who will pay the price for this fiasco.

“We now need to see the management of the Saolta Group of hospitals intervene as a matter of extreme urgency so as to resolve this shocking and unacceptable situation,” Cllr Bree concluded.

RIGHT: Sligo University Hospital where thousands of patients face long waits for appointments with the dermatologist.