A patient at the Maple Healthcare Center in Lisnaskea requested an “overhaul” of the practice and said it was not the Maple Healthcare she has known for 30 years.
Problems plagued the health center as some complained about the long wait for a call, the long wait for callbacks, and the difficulty of seeing a doctor.
Two Fermanagh and Omagh district councils also said they had been contacted by patients about the delays and problems.
Try to speak to a doctor
The woman, who wanted to remain anonymous, spoke of her difficulty speaking to a doctor she knew and when she finally spoke to someone she felt she was not getting the help she needed.
“I have a long, complex medical history, including cancer. But to say that I don’t go to the doctor on a whim, ”the woman explained.
“I have nothing against these telephone consultations, because sometimes I just need a sinus medication or a cream and don’t want to sit in the waiting room for an hour.
“I called Maple Healthcare recently and spent an hour getting through and was told every minute that I was next in line when I clearly wasn’t! First of all, this is very disappointing and the credibility is not good. ”
The woman said that when she finally spoke to a receptionist, they said she needed a telephone consultation.
“I had to speak to one of three doctors who know me, who know my history and medication, who don’t have to spend an hour just going through my notes before or during our consultation. In other words, I needed continuous care. This is no longer available within the Maple Group!
“This family doctor didn’t give me the help I needed for no other reason than that they didn’t know or understand me.”
The Maple Healthcare patient said the experience made her “totally discouraged”.
“I have the feeling that I don’t care that there is nobody behind me medically and that I fight over everything alone all the time. This isn’t the Maple Healthcare I’ve known for 30 years.
“It has to be overhauled now before it’s too late.”
To plan a meeting
Erne East Alderman, Sheamus Greene of Sinn Féin and Independent Eamon Keenan have both received numerous calls from voters about Maple Healthcare.
Councilor Greene, who has tried to organize a meeting with the health group to understand the issues and see what he can do to help, believes this is one of the biggest problems he has been in his 11 years as City Council had.
“Sinn Féin has made numerous attempts over the past 12 months to organize a meeting with the Maple Healthcare group with no real success.
“My reason for contacting them to understand and see if, as an elected representative, there is something I can do to improve it.”
“If they don’t communicate, I don’t know where to go. It will be an unbearable situation. I get it every day of the week with people contacting me.
“That’s probably one of the biggest problems I’ve had in my eleven years as a city councilor.
“People don’t try to call the doctor and put in hours unless they really believe they need to contact the doctor. They don’t enjoy it, it’s very stressful. ”
Online event
Councilor Keenan organized an online event on Monday June 14th for the local community to express their views on the situation.
“People have trouble ringing the doorbell to make appointments, phones are not answered or they are told that they will get a call back within a few days and maybe won’t be called back for a week or more and they won’t get an appointment for two or three weeks and it ends with them going to SWAH outside of opening hours.
“The purpose of the meeting is to convey their stories and to get a clear picture of what is happening. There are a number of different complaints. ”
Both city councils believe that the Covid-19 pandemic is being used as an excuse for the problems, but say these problems existed before the pandemic broke out.
“You blame Covid, but it happened in the Lisnaskea operation before Covid. It’s been happening since the Rosslea practice closed two or three years ago. In my opinion, they have added 1,500 patients and are just not manageable, ”said Councilor Keenan.
“Covid is used as an excuse, but this is older than Covid,” added Councilor Greene.
source https://dailyhealthynews.ca/healthcare-in-fermanagh-patients-dismay-at-spending-an-hour-trying-to-get-a-doctor/
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