Adult cardiac bypass surgery in the public health sector is currently carried out at three centres, the Mater Misericordiae Hospital, Dublin, Cork University Hospital and since September 1998, St. James's Hospital, Dublin. There are a total of nine cardiac surgeons, including two in Cork University Hospital, involved in carrying out cardiac bypass surgery in these hospitals. By the end of September 1999, 886 bypass operations had been carried out since 1 January 1999. The breakdown by hospital is as follows, St. James's Hospital, 16; Mater Misericordiae Hospital, 557; and Cork University, Hospital 313.
As the Deputy will be aware, public patient waiting list statistics are collected by hospitals and furnished to my Department on a quarterly basis. At the end of June 1999, the most recent period for which information is available, there were a total of 763 adults awaiting cardiac surgery over 12 months and 259 waiting for three to 12 months. There were a total of 66 children awaiting cardiac surgery over six months, and 18 waiting for three to six months.
The Deputy will be aware that, in 1998, I allocated funding of £2.3 million under the cardiac surgery waiting list initiative, with the specific aim of reducing the national cardiac surgery waiting list for adults and children. In 1999, I have made provision for the allocation of £4 million under the cardiac surgery waiting list initiative and I am confident that this funding will build on last year's success in reducing the total number of adults and children on the waiting list. The cardiac surgery waiting list initiative has a positive impact on the public cardiac waiting list. The total number of public patients awaiting cardiac surgery has reduced from 1,619 in September 1997 to 1,106 in June 1999, this represents a reduction of 32 per cent.