A LOCAL pensioner has revealed the heartbreaking impact staff shortages and service cuts are having on older patients here in Fermanagh.
The Western Trust has apologised this week, via the Herald, to local patients after it emerged the Parkinson’s Clinics at the SWAH were currently not operating.
Stating this was due to capacity exceeding demand, coupled with reduced medical staff cover, the Trust said the clinics would be resuming in the autumn, and asked any patients experiencing a change in their condition in the meantime to attend the local emergency department (ED) for assessment.
One local patient who had been attending the SWAH clinic is David Mace, who suffers from vertigo and benign tremors, which he described as “a stage down from Parkinson’s, without the brain problem.”
The condition, which he said is getting worse, is impacting all aspects of his life.
The 76-year-old, who lives alone in a rural area outside Enniskillen, only found out the clinic was no longer operating when he called the SWAH to ask why he had not received his six-month appointment, which was long overdue.
“They told me they had done away with that [clinic]. I asked where I would go now and they said they don’t know,” he said, adding he had since received no answers on when or where he will next be seen.
David’s GP has also been seeking these answers from the Trust, as have the local elected representatives he has contacted, all to no avail.
On top of that, his GP has also informed social services that David can no longer cope due to the mobility issues caused by his condition.
However, the home help he was promised has still not materialised, leaving him struggling to cope with the daily realities of his condition.
When he spoke to social services about this he was told they were currently “inundated” with demand.
David’s current problems began two years ago when he was taken to the SWAH ED following a fall.
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