Kildare North TD Frank O’Rourke has called for the immediate restoration of the Dexa services in Naas General Hospital.
Deputy O’Rourke was commenting following a letter which was sent to his Party colleague, Stephen Donnelly TD, confirmed that ‘Dexa service to General Practitioners is suspended due to a national shortage of Radiographers’.
Deputy O’Rourke said, “I first raised this matter with my colleague and our Party Spokesperson on Health after many constituents and local GP’s came to me with concerns about obtaining Dexa scans. These scans are vital for measuring bone density and diagnosing bone diseases such as osteoporosis.
“I understand that the hospital is making every effort to fill the current vacancies and that the service will be reinstated once the vacancies are filled, however, that is of little consolation to the patients who are waiting for a scan, often deteriorating while they wait.
“Unless the recruitment and retention crisis is comprehensively and adequately addressed, we are going to have many more dangerous situations where services are suspended”, concluded Deputy O’Rourke.