Veteran doctor forced to cut outpatient clinics at Portiuncula

Dr John Barton, a consultant at Portiuncula Hospital in Ballinasloe who has just entered his 21st year working at the hospital, has this week revealed that he has been forced to cut patient numbers at all of his outpatient clinics due to the increased number of patients being admitted at the hospital since the closure of Roscommon's emergency department last year. While he was forced to slash the numbers attending one of his clinics late last year, Dr Barton told the Westmeath Independent this week that he has how had to reduce the numbers of all of his clinics and said while typically he would have a list of 35 patients for his clinics he has now been forced to cut this to 25 because he is dealing with so many in-patients at the hospital. "My workload is up about 20-25% and something has to give. We can't keep flogging ourselves. I was leaving hospital at 9pm last week. I'm physically exhausted. Something has to give. At the moment it's me who's giving," he said. Dr Barton, who specialises in cardiology, said because of the huge increase in the number of inpatients he has had to cut back his outpatient, or non-emergency, clinics. "I've had to make the decision to cut back on appointments. As of last week I've had to cut my clinics back substantially. It's not possible to do outpatients with the number of inpatients I'm seeing," he said. "For the moment outpatient clinics have to be curtailed until I can get help. Sadly after 20 years of building up a service I find myself cutting back outpatient and non-emergency services. That goes for both public and private patients. It physically can't be done." He added that he believes other physicians at the hospital are finding themselves in the same position due to the increase in workload. "The HSE has to appreciate the significant increased workload and the need to move human resources, particularly at consultant level. It could be done quite easily," said Dr Barton. "They are placing a significant workload on us when we are already stretched." He said the HSE locally and nationally and the Department of Health needed to do something about it and said the hospital's own management has seen the increased number of patients coming through the hospital. "On the physician side we don't have any additional help," said Dr Barton, adding that the hospital would benefit from physicians specialising in respiratory and renal medicine. "I have the feeling that somebody somewhere could say 'Let's get these physicians'. He said even if the consultants were linked to the University Hospital in Galway or to Roscommon, he'd be satisfied. "I'd have no difficulty holding clinics in Roscommon provided I knew my clinics here were being looked after." However, he lamented that decisions such as these took too long within the HSE. "I think this is down to the command and control system of the HSE." He said the fact that he has had to cut back his outpatient service is affecting people and this should be recognised at HSE level. "I hope by the end of this week to write a letter to the powers that be to tell them this is what I have to do. I find it disturbing to do that, but I have no choice, I can't keep going. The number of patients coming through the emergency department's doors had increased and something has to give. I'm not in a good space in that regard. One gets to sense that you're supposed to be robotic - I'm not a robot. It's not good, it's not right and something needs to happen."