Trinity’s Health Service or College Health is one of the most widely used student services on campus. With sickness and issues with student’s mental health currently being at their peak time, The University Times spoke with College Health’s Practice Manager Catriona Curran and Medical Director Dr. David McGrath about what College Health is doing to keep up with the high demand for appointments.
The Health Service currently has nineteen staff members, which Dr. McGrath stated is “the largest number of staff we have ever had”. Stating the move to Printing House Square as the reason for an increase in medical, nursing and administrative staff, Dr McGrath called this change “very welcome”.
Regarding the alleged waiting times Dr. McGrath spoke about why this time of year is especially challenging: “The main reason is that this is the time of year where we have to designate well in excess of two thousand doctor and nurse appointments for those students in clinical courses in Health Sciences as well as Social Work and Social Policy and Clinical Speech and Language students from Arts and Humanities for their essential pre-registration screening for vaccination history and infectious diseases and the subsequent critical vaccinations that each of these students require before commencing clinical placements.”
Each individual student would require five consultations at College Health to participate in clinical placements, which contributes to the Health Service’s increased workload.
The University Times also spoke with College Health’s Practice Manager Catriona Curran about waiting times for regular and emergency appointments. For a routine appointment such as regular checkups or blood tests, students should expect approximately two and a half weeks of waiting time. As stated by Curran, College Health takes twenty emergency appointments in the morning and fifteen in the afternoon. This difference is because of shorter time slots in the morning. The wait time for an emergency appointment varies depending on the annual leave of the GPs as well as on the season. To get an emergency appointment students were advised to call at nine a.m. in the morning, when College Health opens, to secure a same-day appointment. Otherwise, specific emergency appointment waiting times were not stated.
When asked about the psychiatrist appointment waiting times, Curran confirmed that to get an appointment with a psychiatrist after referral students would have to wait around three months. Curran believes that this wait is much shorter than that of a community psychiatrist, should a student seek an appointment with the HSE.
For emergencies, however, the Health Service does provide, according to Curran, emergency appointments and emergency prescriptions that students can get filled while they are waiting for their appointment.
Additionally, Dr. McGrath stated that some staff are removed from routine consultation dates because of new developments, like the specialised clinics which provide free contraception such as implants and coils.
When asked about emergency appointments and acute medical issues, Dr McGrath provided greater detail stating that students can receive a same-day referral to College Health from the Disability Service, Student Counselling or their tutor.
Addressing the complaints of short appointments, Dr McGrath stated that during his eighteen years at Trinity, he has not received a complaint. He also stated that College Health’s consultation time is longer than most general practices.
When asked about the three-month psychiatric waiting time, a College spokesperson stated that, “Trinity has the best sourced College Health service in the country. However this is a very busy time of year, student numbers have increased, and unfortunately, there can be a wait for a routine appointment. We do offer same-day emergency clinics every day.”
