Vol. 403 No. 3
6 Mr. Allen asked the Minister for Health if, in view of the £2 million extra given to the Mater Hospital, Dublin 7, the Cork Regional Hospital will receive an extra allocation for 1990 in order to reduce the waiting lists at the hospital.
All health boards and voluntary hospitals will benefit from an increased allocation in 1990.
The original budget for Cork Regional Hospital in respect of 1990 has already been increased by the Southern Health Board in anticipation of an adjustment in the board's allocation for 1990.
I want to ask the Minister a number of supplementaries. Can the Minister confirm if an extra allocation will be made for Cork Regional Hospital in the Supplementary Estimate expected to be put through the Dáil in the next week or two? What does the Minister propose to do to replace almost 300 beds which were eliminated in the Cork area in recent years? Is the Minister aware that as a result of the elimination of these beds people have died who may not have died? Admission officers in hospitals are at breaking point and some — I stress the word "some"— consultants are profiteering from the long waiting lists — I can substantiate this allegation — by encouraging people who have medical and hospital services cards and who are entitled to treatment under the Health Act to go private——
I hesitate to interrupt the Deputy——
——and pay substantial amounts of money. Is the Minister aware of that?
——but clearly he is going outside the scope of this question.
I am certainly not.
The question is rather specific.
If you look at the question, a Cheann Comhairle, you will see it is about waiting lists.
As I have already stated in the House, a Supplementary Estimate will be introduced to take account of increased allocations to all the health board agencies and voluntary hospitals. This is being introduced following the flu epidemic. As I have indicated it will come before the House in the next couple of weeks. The number of beds in use in any health board area is, of course, a matter for the individual health board. In the Deputy's case it will be a matter for the Southern Health Board.
With regard to the question of consultants' profiteering from the long waiting lists, I am always anxious to get evidence of this. I would be very pleased to receive the evidence from Deputy Allen and I will investigate it. Admissions to public hospitals should be on the basis of need. If patients decide to go into a private hospital that is their own business but admissions to public hospitals must be on the basis of need and must be seen to be on the basis of need.
When he spoke in the Dáil earlier this year the Minister said he would get the health boards to monitor admissions to public and private hospitals. Can the Minister indicate if this has been done? Does the Minister think that the person who last week got an appointment for November 1991 for orthopaedic treatment in the Southern Health Board area is receiving an adequate level of service?
As I said in reply to Deputy Allen, we monitor the situation in hospitals in so far as that is possible. The evidence I receive — this is on a national basis — shows that there is not any queue-jumping by private patients using up public beds in hospitals.
The Minister must be joking.
When I received the evidence I will investigate it. Admission to hospitals must be on the basis of need. We carry out our own monitoring and the hospitals, and health boards, send us details of the number of public and private patients and what the mix is. If I receive evidence of queue-jumping I will investigate it every time.
The Minister must be aware that in the area of orthopaedic and ear, nose and throat surgery there are substantial waiting lists of between 12 and 18 months. The Minister must be aware that the same people who are on the waiting list could get treatment within a month if they had VHI or other insurance cover. The Minister has a responsibility to look at this whole area. If he is challenging anybody to substantiate allegations, I can give him details of the case of a 50-year-old man who required surgery and was told he would have to wait a year or more, but if he would pay £800 for the surgery he could have it within a matter of weeks. I can show the Minister the bills. The patient had surgery within a week. The Minister should investigate.
The Minister will investigate any case brought to his attention and he will also monitor the position, but the Minister prefers to adopt a different approach by reducing the waiting lists for hip replacement and ear, nose and throat treatment. In the current year we will be increasing the number of joint replacements by about 40 per cent above the 1986 figure when the party opposite were in Government.
It is not enough to meet demand.
Regarding ENT procedures, the waiting time for tonsillectomies at Temple Street has been reduced by half in the current year. We want to continue in this direction, but at the same time I will investigate any case of queue-jumping brought to my attention.
