Jim Higgins
Question:447 Mr. J. Higgins asked the Minister for Health when a child (details supplied) will have an urgent tonsillitis operation carried out by the Western Health Board.
Written Answers. - Tonsillitis Operation Delay.
The position is that this child was seen at an ENT out-patient clinic in Castlebar in December, 1992. Following assessment, his name was placed on the in-patient waiting list at University College Hospital, Galway.
The Deputy will appreciate that the admission of a patient to hospital is a matter for the consultant concerned, and urgent cases always get priority. Should the parents of this child feel that his condition has deteriorated, they should return to his general practitioner who would be in the best position to stress the urgency of his case directly to the consultant at the hospital.
The Government has allocated £20 million for a major action programme to reduce waiting times in the areas of orthopaedic surgery (hip replacement and other procedures), ophthalmology (cataract), ear, nose and throat surgery, cardiac surgery (by-pass operations), vascular surgery (varicose veins) and plastic surgery. The Government objective is to eliminate waiting lists in excess of 12 months in these specialties and to set a maximum period of 6 months for children awaiting ENT or eye treatment. It is my intention to discuss the current situation regarding ENT waiting lists with the Western Health Board in the context of its 1993 revenue allocations which issued recently and, I will be examining how best to allocate the £20 million provided to address in-patient waiting lists in ENT and other specialties for which there are long waiting periods. Decisions in relation to disbursements of waiting list funds will be taken in the coming weeks following detailed discussions with the agencies concerned.