Vol. 470 No. 3
87 Mr. B. O'Keeffe asked the Minister for Health the current position regarding orthopaedic surgery in the Southern Health Board area; if a 70 per cent cutback in procedures is to prevail for the remainder of the year; and if he intends to provide further funding to alleviate the suffering which will be experienced by those people who are waiting for such procedures. [18955/96]
Limerick East): Health agencies are funded on the basis of an agreed service plan for a level of activity which must, at a very minimum, be in line with the level approved for the previous year.
In 1996 I approved funding for the Southern Health Board for an additional 205 orthopaedic procedures under the waiting list initiative, over and above its baseline orthopaedic service plan. I have been advised by the board that it will meet its baseline activity and waiting list initiative targets for the provision of orthopaedic procedures by the year's end and it does not envisage any restrictions in respect of these. It is a matter for the agencies concerned to determine how best to manage activity levels for various procedure types within budgets agreed for the year.
In recent days, I have made a further allocation to the Southern Health Board in respect of the waiting list initiative and the board has advised me that it intends to direct part of these funds towards the provision of additional orthopaedic procedures.
