The disturbing revelation that the lives of women in Cork may be being put at risk due to inadequate gynaecological services only adds more doubt to the questions surrounding the effectiveness of our health system.

Over the past few months we have seen the most worrying and sometimes even ridiculous revelations about our health system all making the headlines including reports of cancer misdiagnoses, serious delays in the processing of smear tests, women in the early stages of labour being forced to wait in communal waiting rooms because of shortages of beds, elderly patients forced to stay days on trollies in A&E wards, shortfalls in the delivery of services to cystic fibrosis patients...the list goes on.

Now we are told that women in Cork , some with suspected uterine cancer, are being forced to wait months at a time for critical investigations because of inadequate gynaecological services.

Doctors in Cork this week said that it has come to light that many doctors were having difficulties getting patients, some of whom were flagged as urgent, seen at the Cork University Maternity Hospital with many patients forced to wait a few months to be seen at the facility.

This disturbing revelation has obviously sparked major concerns and fears in Cork and local politicians raised the issue in the Dáil this week urging the Minister for Health to take action immediately , to ensure that the facilities which are already in place can be fully staffed immediately and made available to the public and to ensure that we do not see a truly sad situation  where a woman will die as a result of these delays.

However, the real disturbing revelation in all of this is the fact that while this issue has only been brought to light now, it has already been happening for some time and that for some women, the wait for these invaluable services has already been too long.

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