Nuala Fennell
Question:140 Mrs. Fennell asked the Minister for Health the reason for the delay in providing treatment for a person (details supplied) in County Tipperary who needs a hip replacement; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
Written Answers. - Hospital Treatment.
I have been informed by the South-Eastern Health Board that this patient's general practitioner wrote a letter of referral on her behalf to Our Lady's Surgical Hospital, Cashel, on 11 March 1991. The patient's name was subsequently placed on the hospital's waiting list for outpatient orthopaedic appointments. I understand that a date for this lady's appointment has yet to be confirmed.
Arrangements regarding an individual patient's position on a waiting list and when his-her operation will be performed are entirely a matter for the clinician concerned and the Deputy will appreciate that it is not a matter in which I have any involvement.
The number of hip replacements performed in the South-Eastern Health Board area has risen significantly as follows: 1989, 71; 1990, 154.