Vol. 470 No. 4
118 Mr. Browne (Wexford) asked the Minister for Health the reason a person (details supplied) in County Wexford who is living in the South Eastern Health Board area and in receipt of a medical card cannot have an appointment with her orthopaedic surgeon until September 1997 in spite of the fact that she is in very bad health. [19406/96]
Limerick East): I understand from the South Eastern Health Board that the person in question is scheduled for an out-patient appointment with a consultant orthopaedic surgeon, in September 1997. The appointment date was based on the general practitioner's referral letter which gave no indication of any urgency of any nature. The scheduling of appointments is a matter for the clinical judgement of the consultant concerned and is based solely on the patient's condition. Emergency cases are given priority. The patient's general practitioner should, accordingly, keep the consultant informed on a regular basis of the patient's condition.
