Offaly patients now waiting up to a year for pain clinic appointments

Independent TD Carol Nolan has she is increasingly concerned by the waiting times being experienced by constituents who have been referred to the Pain Clinic at The Mater Misericordiae University Hospital in Dublin.

Deputy Nolan said she is dealing with a growing number of people who are now being told it could be 10 months to a year before they are seen following a referral from GPs in Offaly.

The independent TD said many of those arriving at her offices or contacting her by phone have had spinal and other forms of major surgeries, but despite this they cannot access the pain clinic and are being left with a seriously diminished quality of life:

“It should be hard to believe that situations such as this are still ongoing as we head into 2026, but unfortunately this is where we are. Things are definitely getting worse, and patients are waiting longer and longer for access to basic services such as pain relief,” said Deputy Nolan.

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“The people coming to me are often at their wits end. Their own GP’s struggle to contact the services outside of email.”

“It feels like there is no one on the other end of the line and that can be extremely difficult for both GPs and their patients who live in constant pain to deal with.”

“Some of those I have tried to assist have had spinal surgery or are dealing with chronic back pain, which as everyone knows is very debilitating, and can often lead to long periods off work.”

“It is incredible to me that the health service simply cannot meet this basic level of need.”

“Indeed, we know from the recently published Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA) that an astonishing two-thirds of older adults reporting chronic pain have received no pain-relieving medication at all.”

“This clearly points to a wider systemic issue in terms of pain management. It is something I will be raising with the Minister and the HSE as a matter of urgency,” Deputy Nolan concluded.

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