Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 2 Jul 1996

Vol. 467 No. 7

Written Answers. - Cardiac Surgery Waiting List.

Seán Haughey

Question:

73 Mr. Haughey asked the Minister for Health the number of persons in the Eastern Health Board on a waiting list for heart by-pass surgery; the number of persons on a waiting list for this type of surgery for each year of the past three years; the progress, if any, that has been made to improve this situation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14010/96]

Noel Ahern

Question:

120 Mr. N. Ahern asked the Minister for Health the number of people on the waiting lists in the Cardiac Unit, Mater Hospital, Dublin 7, in respect of bypasses, angiograms and angioblast procedures; the number of patients in each time period, for example under one year from one to two years, two to three years, three to four years and more than four years; his views on whether it is correct for a person to be on a list for more than four years; and if he will comment on the matter in relation to a person (details supplied) in Dublin 9. [14449/96]

Minister for Health (Mr. Noonan,

Limerick East): I propose to take Questions Nos. 73 and 120 together.

I understand the person in question was placed on the Mater Hospital's waiting list, in February 1992 and at this time the hospital is not able to give an exact date of admission. The scheduling of surgery is a matter for the clinical judgment of the consultant concerned, is based solely on the patient's condition and not on the length of time on the waiting list. Emergency cases are given priority. The patient's general practitioner should, accordingly, keep the consultant informed on a regular basis of the patient's condition.

The number on the cardiac surgery waiting list as at 13 June 1996 was 1857. The information requested concerning the number of persons on waiting lists under the various headings is not readily available. I have sought the information from the hospitals and I will forward it to the Deputies as soon as it is available.

The strategy to deal with cardiac surgery waiting lists has been to provided additional facilities and infrastructure within the public hospital service to increase annual activity.

To date this strategy has resulted in an additional cardiac surgeon being appointed at the Mater Hospital where the annual activity for open heart operations has been increased by 250 per year to 1,000 per year; an additional cardiac surgeon being appointed to Cork University Hospital to increase the output from 200 to 400 open heart operations per year.

The combined effect of this action will be to increase annual activity for cardiac surgery in the public hospital service to 1,400 per year an increase of 47 per cent.

I am anxious to further expand the public hospital capacity for cardiac surgery. I am fully committed to the provision of additional capacity including the appointment of additional cardiac surgeons on a permanent basis within the public hospital system over the next two to three years. This examination of the long-term requirements has already begun. However, because of the need to ensure that future developments are well planned to allow sufficient time to put in place the type of permanent, expensive, high cost infrastructure required for cardiac surgery it will take some time before this additional capacity comes on stream.

In the interim my Department is engaged in the purchase of open heart surgery from health care organisations at prices which are reasonable and affordable on a once-off basis.

I wish to stress that the major objective is to increase the permanent capacity for cardiac surgery in the public hospital sector and in the meantime to provide additional procedures quickly to ease the problems of those awaiting cardiac operations.

I am hopeful that the short-term approach together with the long-term planning initiative will ensure that waiting times for cardiac surgery are reduced significantly and I look forward to co-operation from everybody involved to bring this about as quickly as possible