health service = joke !!

oxoxnicolaoxox

I rang for an appointment there 2 weeks ago n was told we have none available call back on 5th january and we can see then !!!

Notorious

Is it urgent? Did you tell them if it was? A friend of mine walked in, said the problem was urgent (which it was), spoke with a nurse, and was seen straight away.

Breezer

Turning up very early in the morning also helps.

eclectichoney

Does anyone know if there are similar delays for student counselling??

oxoxnicolaoxox

nope not urgent not sick or anything simply need them to fill out a repeat prescription so therefore cant see the nurse becuase im not sick enough likewise with the early because they say they are booked up ... I've used them for the past 4 yrs witout real problems other than not being seen for an hour after my appointed time..............

oxoxnicolaoxox

eclectichoney wrote: »

Does anyone know if there are similar delays for student counselling??

from overhearing conversations i think there could be a small wait alright ...

dosed

I had to wait 6 weeks for an appointment last semester. just for a prescription, which usually takes less than 5 minutes.
anyway, I couldnt wait 6 weeks so I just paid for a gp visit. It was only 25euro.
Its a pain though.

oxoxnicolaoxox

dosed wrote: »

I had to wait 6 weeks for an appointment last semester. just for a prescription, which usually takes less than 5 minutes.
anyway, I couldnt wait 6 weeks so I just paid for a gp visit. It was only 25euro.
Its a pain though.

did you go to a diff doctor in dublin ??? I need to find one I can't wait until 5th jan either!

Jev/N

Pharmacies will most of the time allow you a month or two repeat if it's an emergency and you have exhausted that avenue?

ChocolateSauce

Well you get what you pay for.:rolleyes:

Zounds

Yes, it's truly disgraceful that a free service for 16,000+ students would have a long waiting list.

delta_bravo

ChocolateSauce wrote: »

Well you get what you pay for.:rolleyes:

Zounds wrote: »

Yes, it's truly disgraceful that a free service for 16,000+ students would have a long waiting list.

Waits for onslaught....

Tchaikovsky

eclectichoney wrote: »

Does anyone know if there are similar delays for student counselling??

Well last year I booked an appointment with the counsellor on the 20th of October and didn't get to see anyone until the end of January!
It's ridiculous, a student population of 20,000 and something like 3 full-time counsellors?

Donald-Duck

Tchaikovsky wrote: »

Well last year I booked an appointment with the counsellor on the 20th of October and didn't get to see anyone until the end of January!
It's ridiculous, a student population of 20,000 and something like 3 full-time counsellors?

So you're saying they should add charges to the health services in order to make them more efficient? Every student should pay 50 euro per visit, right?

Zounds

Tchaikovsky wrote: »

Well last year I booked an appointment with the counsellor on the 20th of October and didn't get to see anyone until the end of January!
It's ridiculous, a student population of 20,000 and something like 3 full-time counsellors?

[nitpicking]As I understand it it's a student population of ~16,000 and a population of ~22,000, no?[/nitpicking]

Jev/N

It's a population of 16,000 undergrads and 6,000 post-grads afaik

oxoxnicolaoxox

actually i wouldnt mind paying like 25 euro (subsidised amount) for a visit but point is a) they wouldnt even let me on that waiting list b) if they have student counselling I dont think an october to january wait is acceptable since if ur depressed its gonna get worse around exams periods and that 3 month wait could be too long for someone who is in need C) Medical card holders get free GP visits does that mean that every medical card taking GP has a waiting list of 6-8 weeks......... I don't think so

oxoxnicolaoxox

betafrog wrote: »

Wow, you've used them for 4 years without a problem but as soon as your told, at the busiest time of the year, that there is a waiting list the health service is a joke... hmmm...

If your prescription is that important to you, you should have booked your appointment in advance. You can't ring up and expect the doctor to make time for your prescription when they also have to make time for those that need to see a doctor for medical reasons or have an emergency.

In short, book in advance next time.

/rant

Actually I tried to book 2 weeks ago(November) for an appointment in the end of december I do actually know the way the health service has a waiting list for there to be a 6 week waiting list before i can even book is a jerk.... read properly next time........ also I didnt say without problem as mentioned when i do book i wait at least an hour before being seen ... so dont go telling me that i should book in advance when i tried to book a month in advance :rolleyes: or do you believe I should book 2 months in advance:rolleyes:

Tchaikovsky

Donald-Duck wrote: »

So you're saying they should add charges to the health services in order to make them more efficient? Every student should pay 50 euro per visit, right?

Hmm, and how come universities such as Trinity or UCC have twice as many counsellors for a smaller student population? It's so hypocritical of a university that goes out of it's way to promote the 'Please Talk' campaign and when its students NEED to talk, there's nobody to talk to.
And there's also alot of this 'you get what you pay for' crap; well I pay €6,500 per year to attend a college where NOTHING is efficient, not even the whole 'getting an education' part of it!
End rant.

Tayto2000

Tchaikovsky wrote: »

Hmm, and how come universities such as Trinity or UCC have twice as many counsellors for a smaller student population? It's so hypocritical of a university that goes out of it's way to promote the 'Please Talk' campaign and when its students NEED to talk, there's nobody to talk to.
And there's also alot of this 'you get what you pay for' crap; well I pay €6,500 per year to attend a college where NOTHING is efficient, not even the whole 'getting an education' part of it!
End rant.

The counsellors are doing a lot with a little, the whole please talk thing was created and driven by them, not UCD... although the college was graciously pleased to be affiliated when it went national.

dajaffa

Tchaikovsky wrote: »

Hmm, and how come universities such as Trinity or UCC have twice as many counsellors for a smaller student population

As far as I know the reason is ours are more qualified. All of the counsellors are clinical psychologists, whereas some of the other universities would have more counsellors but they wouldn't be as qualified. Also we have more than three, an additional two were hired at the start of the year, and though it may be longer now as recently as a month ago the waiting list for the counseling services was 2-3 days or thereabouts.

In relation to the GPs all funding come from our reg fee, not the HSE or anywhere so the money will only go so far (and the increase next year is going to the Government so it won't help). To reduce the waiting list we need to lobby to allow medical card holders to register with 2 GPs while in college. Then students with medical cards could register with the UCD health service like they would do with their GP at home. The health centre would then get around €30/40 everytime a medical card holder saw a GP there and could use the money to hire more. USI are mandated to do this (I proposed a motion at their congress last year) but I haven't heard any update.

Donald-Duck

Tchaikovsky wrote: »

Hmm, and how come universities such as Trinity or UCC have twice as many counsellors for a smaller student population? It's so hypocritical of a university that goes out of it's way to promote the 'Please Talk' campaign and when its students NEED to talk, there's nobody to talk to.
And there's also alot of this 'you get what you pay for' crap; well I pay €6,500 per year to attend a college where NOTHING is efficient, not even the whole 'getting an education' part of it!
End rant.

You paid 6500 for an education I'm pretty sure, not a health centre.

Tchaikovsky

What's the point in having a health service on campus then?