Patients experience delays as NEDoC cuts take effect

Patients attending the North-East Doctor on Call (NEDoC) service last weekend experienced lengthy delays before seeing a doctor, following cutbacks which came into effect last week. There has been a substantial cut in the number of doctors-on-call, including a 50 per cent reduction in the numbers based in Navan at weekends, as a result of a 62 per cent cut in HSE funding to the GP out-of-hours service. NEDoC operations manager, Arlene Fitzsimons, said there had been longer waiting times since the reduction in doctor numbers, with some patients waiting between an hour and an hour-and-a-half longer than usual. "We were relatively lucky on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday of last week, as we weren't too busy, but it got very busy at the weekend," she said. She explained that there was no doctor available to talk to patients on the phone, as the new nurse triage system won't come into effect for another two weeks, and so anyone wishing to get medical advice had to go to one of the centres. "The weekend was very very busy. One doctor saw 27 patients in a five-hour shift on Sunday evening," she said. Ms Fitzsimons said that one patient at the weekend claimed that she might as well have gone to A&E, as she had been waiting so long. "It is a very worrying time for GPs," she said. "When they are so busy and seeing so many patients, they worry that they might miss something." The number of doctors on-call in Navan on weekends has been cut by half from four to two and, from 6pm to 11pm each evening, there will be just two doctors in Navan instead of three. Until now, there were four doctors available to cover Meath, Louth, Cavan and Monaghan from midnight onwards. This will now be reduced to three and there will be no doctor in the Castleblayney, Co Monaghan, centre during those hours. The doctors have pointed out that they are subsidising the service on a temporary basis from funds in NEDoC's reserves. This means that the cut in rostering is a 30 per cent reduction rather than a 62 per cent cut. Kells GP Dr Peter Wahlrab warned recently that the drastic cuts in the service could have safety implications. "As one of those who set up this service, I am not convinced that we can provide a safe level of cover under the new arrangements," he said. Meanwhile, the general practitioners are hoping to make their case to the new Government to restore a properly funded out-of-hours service to the area. "We will be making our case to the new government and we hope they will fulfil their promise to invest in primary care," according to Ms Fitzsimons. A spokesperson for the HSE said it was implementating a number of key recommendations contained in the National Review of GP Out-of-Hours services that had been agreed between the HSE and the GPs.