I recently received an appointment letter from the Midland Regional Hospital at Tullamore Cardiac Unit for a CUS Echo examination. Nothing strange about that given that I am on the pathway to a kidney transplant. However, I live in Monasterevin with no car. The appointment was for 08:10 on a Monday morning in Tullamore. This is not the first time that MRHT has given me an appointment so early in the morning that it is impossible to get there using public transport.

The earliest that I could be in Tullamore station would be 08:32 and then there would be a brisk walk up to the hospital of about half an hour. That would mean that the earliest I could be at the hospital would be about nine o’clock. When I explained this to the cardiac secretary by telephone this lunchtime, I was informed that the timings are when the clinics are in Tullamore. It does seem that the hospitals do not take into consideration how anyone is meant to get to the appointments.

It would be possible for me to get to a hospital in Dublin at half past eight in the morning. Indeed, I have done so in the past. It is far easier for me to get to Dublin by public transport than it is to get to Tullamore. Perhaps the HSE would transfer my care there?