Jim Higgins
Question:289 Mr. J. Higgins asked the Minister for Health the reason for the delay in having the necessary arrangements made for a hip replacement operation in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Mayo.
Written Answers. - Hip Operation Delay.
The position is that this patient is on the semi-urgent out-patient waiting list at Merlin Park Regional Hospital, Galway. The Deputy will appreciate that the scheduling of appointments for patients is a matter for the consultant concerned, and urgent cases are always accorded priority. Should the patient feel that his condition has deteriorated he 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 Deputy may be aware that 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 (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 six months for children awaiting ENT or eye treatment.
Detailed discussions regarding waiting lists are now nearing completion with the various hospitals and health boards, including the Western Health Board, and I will shortly be announcing my decisions in regard to the allocation of the £20 million.