TONSILS… A Lisnaskea woman has hit out at having to travel to Derry for the removal of her son’s tonsils
A LISNASKEA mother who is being forced to pay for a overnight stay at a hotel in Derry so her young son can undergo surgery to remove his tonsils has hit out at the lack of children’s facilities at the South West Acute Hospital (SWAH).
Leah Smith was told that as her son is five-years-old the family has to travel to Altnagelvin Area Hospital for the minor procedure because SWAH does not perform the operation on children aged under seven.
The mother-of-three said it has puts a strain on the family as the 8am treatment times will mean they have to stay in Derry the night before.
She stated: “I thought the operation could have been in Omagh because I already knew that Enniskillen does not operate on under seven-year-olds but they always give inconvenient times like 8am in Derry.
“It’s an hour and a half journey so it means we would have to leave at 6.30am and I don’t want to travel that early in the morning as it doesn’t suit. They told me that’s the only times they have available for us.
“I was shocked but my son Tee-Jay needs to get his tonsils taken out. It means we would have to travel up to Derry the night before and pay for a B&B or hotel and we have three young children and I have to take them with me as we don’t have child care or anyone to look after them.
“It’s not good and it’s putting a strain on us and Tee-Jay is afraid of hospitals. They told us they don’t operate in Omagh. I think they should introduce children’s operations as it would make it easier for a lot of families. It’s hard going for anyone in the same boat as me. It’s a big hospital and they can’t operate on children, it’s sad.”
She added that she has travelled to the Derry hospital for appointments only to discover they had been cancelled without, she claimed, any notification or reason.
“We are still waiting on that other appointment.”
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