A PUBLIC patient may have to wait 18 months for an MRI scan in University Hospital Galway (UHG) but can be seen and have results within 24 hours from a public-private partnership facility in Merlin Park Hospital in the city by paying over €500.
New figures show there are now more than 1,860 people on a waiting list for between two and 18 months for an MRI at UHG, and a further 1,700 waiting to have an ultrasound.
The situation has been described as “absolutely ridiculous” by a Co Galway GP, who says the figures are a source of great concern for medical practitioners and extremely distressing for patients waiting for such investigations.
Ballygar GP Dr Martin Daly said it was inexplicable that with new services at UHG and Merlin Park Hospital in Galway from orthopaedics to oncology, additional MRI scanners have not been provided.
The HSE West has confirmed that UHG has only one scanner and that the MRI wait times “reflect a scarce and valuable resource”.
“Access to the MRI is prioritised by a senior medical doctor in radiology, with cancer patients having priority. Patients also have access to a public- private partnership MRI service based in Merlin Park.”
Dr Daly said it was clear the current MRI facilities for public patients in Galway do not meet the need, and this was further highlighted by the large number of private MRI scanners available in the city.
The former president of the Irish Medical Organisation said the shortage of MRI scanners in UHG was the most glaring example of the inadequate infrastructure at the hospital, which is supposed to be a tertiary referral hospital for the region.
He believed many patients were being forced to take out private healthcare insurance or try to find the fee they very often could not afford in order to speed up their MRI appointment and subsequent treatment.