Rose Conway-Walsh on Taxi Costs Wiping Out Benefits for Patients
Rose Conway-Walsh raised rural transport barriers to accessing healthcare, focusing on journeys from Mayo to Galway Hospital and the financial impact on patients. She argued that centralised services, taxi costs and poor public transport timing are pushing people into poverty and urged targeted support.
Case example from Castlebar
She detailed a woman in Castlebar who faces having all of her weekly benefit wiped out by the cost of a taxi to a Galway Hospital appointment because public transport is not available. The loss of income, she said, leaves the patient with no money for food, fuel or other essentials for that week.
Impact on rural patients and travel from Mayo
She warned that centralising health services, while sometimes necessary for centres of excellence, can make it impossible for people to attend essential appointments without help - citing travel from Castlebar and from Blacksod to Galway as examples. She asked for attention to transport provision from Mayo to Galway Hospital in particular.
Appointment timing and public transport use
She criticised the timing of many hospital appointments, noting that schedules often fail to reflect where patients are travelling from and can force travel during rush hour. She urged work to facilitate the use of public transport where possible and to avoid adding to the stress of appointments.
Local hubs, community support and targeted payments
She commended Rural Link for its work in Mayo and highlighted the value of local hubs and groups during COVID and Storm A. She offered to work with the minister's office on the so-called Pacific case to explore an additional needs payment or other support, saying nobody should have to choose between protecting their health and affording food.
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This has been discussed here today, Minister, in terms of rural property, and I know you will completely understand this. I do want to commend Rural Link for the great work that they have done in Mayo, and they need to be resourced to do an awful lot more. But I want to give you an example of a woman I spoke to in Castle Bar the other day. She has an appointment in Galway Hospital next week. Now, all of her income for the week, all of her benefit for the week is going to be wiped out because she has to pay for that taxi. She cannot get public transport. She just can't. It is just not. We discussed the ins and outs with her. She cannot get public transport. So that is all of her benefit for the week. So that's how people are being plunged into poverty. What is she to do for her food, for her fuel, for everything else for that week? It is OK centralising health services, and we all need the centres of excellence in certain disciplines. But asking somebody without any help to get from Castle Bar, never mind from Blacksod to Galway, is just impossible. I want you to look at transport, transport from Mayo to Galway Hospital in particular. Thank you very much. I agree with Deputy Burke, we will certainly try and do that, and I think not just during COVID but during Storm A when we saw the real value of local groups, of local hubs and local services. I am working within the department with my other hash of rural and community development in relation to supporting those local hubs and services. It really frustrates me around the timing of hospital appointments, even if a person was able to use public transport, that often the timing of a hospital appointment in Galway or in any regional centre does not reflect where they have to travel from. I think more work can be done in facilitating people who are in a position to use public transport, to use it, even those with their own transport, not to have to come in at rush hour and add to the stress of an appointment. In relation to the Pacific case, I am happy to work at your office if we may be able to look at an additional needs payment or some sort of support, because nobody should have to make a choice like that in relation to protecting their health, getting essential healthcare or having the food that is essential to that health. If you want to give me the details, I would be more than happy to work with you in relation to that. Thank you very much.
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