A COMMUNITY Forum for the Mater Hospital has raised its concerns regarding “unacceptable” waiting lists and an increasing “two-tier health service” which has been exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Mater Hospital Community Forum is made up of community groups with an interest in health care, political representatives, trade union representatives, current and past Mater and Belfast Trust staff.
At this month’s meeting, it was noted that many services at the Crumlin Road hospital are still not functional, with the Mater still being Belfast Trust’s designated Covid-19 site since last March.
The lack of services has led to long waiting lists for surgery, despite theatres lying empty at the Mater.
The forum say that the long-waiting lists are turning patients towards the private healthcare sector to their own expense.
A spokesperson for the Mater Hospital Community Forum said: “The Mater Hospital Community Forum is becoming increasingly concerned regarding the unacceptable waiting lists for surgery and outpatients.
“There has become a two-tier health care system, people can pay to bypass the long NHS waiting lists. The has been especially highlighted during the pandemic.
“Patients are waiting in some cases years to see a consultant in the NHS while the same consultant will see patients with similar conditions within weeks that can pay. This goes against NHS principles and also the duties of a doctor to treat patients according to clinical need and not on how much money they can pay.
Outpatients
“The Mater has theatres and wards that have not been used for many months. There are areas in the hospital that are not being used, could be used to expand outpatients.
“There is capacity in the Mater to help reduce waiting list – theatres, wards etc that are not currently being used.”
The forum also voiced its disapproval that specialist doctors and nurses are being used for the North’s vaccination programme, taking them away from their own roles.
“The use of the many volunteer vaccinators would allow the specialist nurses and doctors that are being used as vaccinators to go back to their busy specialist roles and move the vaccination centres out of busy hospitals into the community.
“The BHSCT sent a document out actively encouraging their health care staff to apply for full time secondment to the vaccination team. There were many health care professionals that volunteered to help with vaccination, actually more than was required but many are not being used.
“The vaccination staff should go back to their busy specialist roles and vaccination centres should not be in busy hospitals.”
In a statement, a Belfast Trust spokesperson said: “The Mater Hospital was designated the Belfast acute site for Covid-19 patients in March 2020 and this remains unchanged.
“We remain focused on treating those in need of care during the current surge of this pandemic.”
