To begin, I suffer from a chronic pain and fatigue condition, called Fibromyalgia. Every so often, I get a debilitating flare up - to the point that I can't even get out of bed.
On Saturday the 19 March I started to feel unwell - little did I know that the next day I'd be completely man down experiencing a full blown flare. Being a weekend, I didn't know what to do but come Monday I was in dire need of professional medical intervention (pain control) as my chronic medication was not working.
Now in SA, my specialist would admit me and put me on a course of hectic pain killers (sometimes to the point of morphine), steroids and anti-inflamatories - all via IV, for 3 or 4 days. Usually my infection markers are high during a flare up so antibiotics are required too.
So, on Monday 21 March I called my GP who referred me to the County's General Hospital to get treatment. I presented with the following symptoms:
- Generalised body pain, rated 9/10
- Joint pain rated 9/10
- Nausea and vomiting
- Severe headaches
I arrived at the hospital at 3pm and was triaged within 3 hours (due to a history of pulmoanory embolisms) which to me wasn't too bad.
Now here is where fun and games begin - I was called in by an ED Dr who was overseeing my care. She took bloods and put up line for fluids as I was dehydrated. I explained why I was there and she took a very thorough detail of my medical history (including my immigration details - she wanted to know why I moved here and not to the UK, if I qualify for a passport etc etc - I found that strange). She then proceeded to treat me for a pulmonary embolism and not my pain - I went for chest Xrays which came back clear thankfully. But I was still in huge amounts of pain and yet to be treated for it. Eventually she said she'd give me 2 parcetomols and a nuerofen - this is after telling her that my chronic pain, schedule 5, medication isn't working. Anyway I took it, in hope that it would take the edge off, which it didn't unfortunately.
I was then sent back to the triage waiting area for another 2hrs before I saw the ED Dr again. She said I looked miserable so would admit me but I need to wait for a medical Dr and team to assist me - this whole system was very new to me but I happily cooperated. A few hours later at midnight, a medical Dr came to see me and he was concerned about a brain bleed because I'm on blood thinners for another autoimmune disorder. He wanted me to have a CT brain scan the next morning but in the meantime needed to go back to the triage waiting room until they could admit me. So back to triage I went and waited.... And waited... And waited...at 3am on Tuesday morning I just couldn't do it anymore and decided to lay on the floor. I was then told very promptly by a nurse that I wasn't allowed to do that - this is when I broke down and explained that I had been there for 12hrs and was still waiting to be admitted. Another nurse very quickly got a covid swob to do a test on myself but said I have to wait for the results before I get a bed. I then broke down more and questioned why this hadn't been done sooner, only to be told that they didn't know I was to be admitted. An hour or so later, they had me on an ED trolley in a hallway for the next few hrs where I just crashed. The nurses were very kind and sweet once I was 'in' and tried to make me as comfortable as possible. I was offered some cornflakes for breakfast a few hours later, which I gladly took but I was STILL in excruciating amounts of pain with no pain relief written up or prescribed for me.
Still in the hallway at 10h30 on Tuesday, I was seen by a chest specialist but he was examining my head for brain bleeds. At this point, I actually didn't care anymore. He administered some stronger pain meds than paracetamol and 100% oxygen but this only worked for an hour and I was back to square one. They then proceeded to usher me to a transitting room where I sat for 4hrs to be told that I'm no longer being admitted and that they don't have the medication or specialist to treat me so I need to go home.
So that was that and I went home after 24hrs of what seemed like hell!
On Wednesday morning, 23 March, the pain was getting out of control and we called the GP who referred me to another Hospital where I could see a rheumatologist
I arrived at said Specialist Hospital at 6.30pm and within 30 minutes I was triaged and transferred to the medical ED. By 9pm an ED Dr had seen me and taken note of WHY I was there, took bloods, did ecg and put a line up.
At 10.30pm he explained that the Rheumatologist is only on call from 8am-5pm so I would have to be admitted. By 00.00 I was in a bed in the ED bay for the night. No going to a ward again, even though I was meant to be getting admitted. I was given IV parcetomol which is a bit more effective than the tablets but still did not work 100%.
Thursday morning, the 24 March came and I was told that the Rheumatologist won't see me because I have recently recovered from covid and that he stays clear of covid infected people!
An endocrinologist came to see me however and said it was pathetic that they had me on paracetamol etc etc but that he would no longer be admitting me... Why? I'm still yet to find out....
I was then isolated because I had covid 4 weeks prior so I'm apparently still high risk. But then, 6 hours later I'm told that I'm no longer high risk and I must go sit in the waiting area to be seen by the endocrinologist again. This took about another hour. By this time, I still had not received sufficient pain relief but he was 'discharging' me (even though I was never admitted) with a script for stronger medication to be taken at home.
Now I'm not disregarding the hospitals here. If you compare apples with apples, the state hospitals here are so much cleaner and have really impressive equipment and have ample resources compared to SA state hospitals. The systems just seem so odd and I don't find the Dr's really listen to the patient. I felt extremely unheard and disregarded, no matter how hard I put my foot down.
But we live and learn I suppose. Hopefully the Rheumatologist will see me soon and this will help streamline things better. We'll have to see.
After my experience I do believe that the hospitals here in Ireland are under enormous amounts of pressure. There isn't enough space and aren't enough nurses and ED/medical Dr's to cope with the work load, especially during covid, as that seems to be the reason for the treatment backlog. I believe that if GP's could assist more with minor emergencies like they do in the SA private sector, that things would run quicker and smoother. I believe that there shouldn't be so much fear based around covid either - after all there's such a high vaccination rate. The discrimination that I received was extremely disheartening.
At the end of the day it was interesting (and frustrating) to experience two different hospitals in two different counties at two different times to see how differently they work and are overwhelmed by patients.
Even though this may seem like a negative write up, there is some good to it and all in all, the nursing staff are saints and sweet little gems - they took care of me best that their resources could (in both hospitals). At the end of the day (or week should I say), I received adequate pain relief that has helped me combat this flare up in the comfort of my own home.
**Update: on 13 May 2022 I had my Rheumatologist appt and it went extremely well - I had an almost 2 hour consult and they had all the time in the world for me. I am now waiting to be referred to a pain clinic and a few other dept's while they treat me for my autoimmune conditions.**
Important links:
#MapMyMove- Our coaching Services - Confused or lost and need some direction, book a session with us to help untangle the confusion and work out your route of immigration
Medical in Ireland - Medical in Ireland, how it works, where to get assistance, Maternity and Private medical
Habitual Residence, Means Testing, Benefits, Permanent residency and Naturalisation - What is Habitual Residence, Means Testing, Benefits, Permanent residency and Naturalisation
We have asked our members to share anonymously, their personal experiences of the Irish medical system. The medical system here is very different to SA and may for some be a major part of their move and how their current or furture health issues may be handled.
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