Sir, - I am very annoyed Deputy Gay Mitchell's comments regarding "staff shortages and waiting lists beyond what would be acceptable in Eastern Europe" (August 10th). Has Mr Mitchell ever used a hospital in eastern Europe? I qualified as a doctor in Ukraine and worked in regional hospitals there and I can assure you that there are no staff shortages or long waiting lists there. There can be some bed shortages depending on the department required, but emergency admissions are normally satisfied within one working day.
Medical assistance is given very quickly to an ill person. You will not wait 10-20 hours in admissions, nor six weeks for a consultant appointment, nor many months for an operation. Most specialist consultations are available within a matter of days or a week or two depending on one's condition. Some highly skilled specialities have longer waiting lists for Ukrainians, resulting from the influx of foreign patients for treatment, for reasons of both the need for hard currency and in humanitarian aid cases; these generally include very specialised ophthalmic (for which Ukraine is renowned) and cardiac work.
There are severe shortages of funds, local and hard currency, in the Ukrainian health service, and this affects the availability of Western drugs and equipment. That however is a separate matter. In Ukraine the quality of service is such that ever larger numbers of foreign patients are coming to receive treatment. Comments such as those in your article confuse readers and give a poor image of Eastern Europe. There are many problems and difficulties in the former Soviet states but not specifically the problem of staff shortages in the medical services. It is wrong to equate a shortage of funds with a lack of professionalism, commitment or management. It is unfair and wrong for a national politician and a national newspaper to refer to matters of which they have little knowledge. - Yours, etc.,
Dr O. Y. Yaremchuk, Straffan, Co Kildare