A group of sick people were left waiting in the cold at a coronavirus test centre but testers never showed up.
The HSE confirmed a text message communication error lead to the confusion.
Dublin musician Ger Foley, 51, a heart failure patient, told how he waited ten days for a Covid-19 test at Tallaght Stadium, Dublin on Sunday only for nobody to show up.
He arrived half an hour early for his 9.20am test but was left in a freezing car park along with a number of others.
“When I arrived around five of us were there early, all checking our times. By 10am there were about 35-40 cars there.
"Nobody knew what was happening. I left at 10.10am. Everyone was talking among themselves in complete disbelief that this was happening.
“There was a little old man waiting there who’d walked all the way from home as there were no buses before 9am - seeing him so confused and the look of fear on his face, that was so cruel,” said Ger.
“It was so cold - four degrees and he was evidently chesty and struggling. He was very afraid.
"He told me he’d been trying to see a doctor to get a test for the last ten days but he wasn’t allowed into the medical centre as he had a cough and a temperature.
"It really upset me. He had nobody to walk up with him - he told me his wife was sick too.
"He was ringing his wife worried sick about where it was and she kept telling him he was in the right place.”
Ger described the test facility as a “tin hut”.
“I’d seen all these tents in town all looking so hi-tech but here we have a tin hut.”
In a statement to the Irish Mirror, the HSE said a communication error lead to no testers showing up.
They said: “All appointments that were made for today were cancelled by text message and rescheduled. Unfortunately some of these cancellation texts which were due to be sent on Saturday morning were not delivered and we apologise for any inconvenience caused by these cancellations and for the text messages which were not delivered.
“The failure of the text messaging system to deliver cancellation texts is being fully investigated to resolve the issue.”
Ger emailed the HSE and phoned its COVID helplines when he got home but received no answer.
He later received an automated text with an appointment time for Monday morning.
Ger’s GP put him forward for a test earlier in the week after his symptoms worsened and he developed a chesty cough.
The HSE added: “At the weekend the supply of testing materials was limited. A delivery of testing kits is due today and there will be further deliveries during the week. These will be distributed as soon as possible.”
