Council to press Minister about two year wait for tonsils op
CHILDREN in Sligo are having to wait up to two years or more to get their tonsils out, often on strong medication.
Cllr Michael Clarke called on the Council to ask the Health Minister Simon Harris and the ENT Consultant in Sligo University Hospital why patients in Sligo have to wait more than two years for the procedure.
“45 years ago I had my tonsils removed the next day. Their medications now are very heavy,” he said.
He was supported in his motion by Cllrs Sinead Maguire and Rosaleen O’Grady.
Cllr Maguire said there were two part time ENT doctors but funding hadn’t been provided for a full time consultant.
“It’s a very surgically heavy department but it’s not right to have children suffering,” she said.
Cllr O’Grady said it was her understanding that patients also had to be six to seven weeks infection free before they can have them removed.
“I know children on the list for one and a half to two years. Children get very run down if they’re constantly on antibiotics for that long,” she told the meeting.