Mother, 31-40 age group:
"NowDoc [is] not very reliable"

Mother of two children:
"Don't like NowDoc - doctors don't take parents' concerns seriously"

Woman, age group 61-70:
"Because I pay, the service is good"

10.7 Hospital Attendance

Concerns about women's experiences of hospital attendance formed the driving force for IWIN to conduct the current research - establishing the validity of these experiences was, therefore, a necessary part of the survey.  Question 43 involved a comprehensive list of the known problems (previously identified by focus groups) associated with hospital attendance, either as an outpatient or an inpatient; participants were asked to indicate which, if any, they or their families had personally experienced within the past year. 

Forty one respondents had not had any experience of hospital attendance in the previous year.  Of the remaining fifty nine who had attended hospital, nine had not experienced any problems at all.   The most frequently mentioned problem was a "Long wait to be seen" (chosen 36 times), with "Getting the right information" (chosen 24 times) in second position and "Poorly timed appointments (chosen 22 times) in third (see Table 29).   Many women experienced multiple problems; one in three of the respondents had experienced either 4 or 5 problems in total.  This aspect of women's experience was also referred for discussion on International Rural Women's Day and the conclusions can be seen in Sections 12.7 and 12.9.

10.8 Women have their say: On hospital attendance

Mother of sick child:
"They didn't take my opinion seriously - she was a long time [there] and not a lot [was] done.  I'm still attending and [they] still don't know what it is.  On top of all this, I have to pay for car parking while I'm in the hospital!"

Woman, age group 51-60:
"I had a very bad experience in the hospital in the past and I hate going near the place at all.  I would rather go to another hospital than the General, but there is no other option"

Mother of two children:
"[I] relied heavily on relatives to help with home and childcare - without them [it] would have been a lot harder"

Mother of two, age group 31- 40:
"My son had to go to A& E with appendicitis - we had to wait for 5 hours for the surgeon to examine him.  It cost me a fortune when I was there, even though I have a medical card, to feed myself and buy things to entertain him.  On top of all this we had to pay for the car park.  I don't think you should have to pay for the car park if you are staying with a sick relative"

Mother of two children:
"There's a difference when you're paying for treatment - [I] was listened to when I was paying - and [I was] treated with respect.  [This] doesn't happen with the medical card"

Married living with husband, 51-60 age group:
"If things don't improve with healthcare I will move nearer to Dublin or Galway"

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