Vol. 488 No. 2
46 Mr. J. O'Keeffe asked the Minister for Health and Children whether his attention has been drawn to the major concerns on the part of those who are unable to secure admission to hospitals even for emergency treatment; and the steps, if any, he is taking to remedy the situation. [5746/98]
80 Mr. Rabbitte asked the Minister for Health and Children the plans, if any, he has for special initiatives to reduce long hospital waiting lists in areas including orthopaedic, ear, nose and throat for children and adults and ophthalmology, similar to the recently announced plans for the cardiac sector; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5701/98]
140 Mr. Shatter asked the Minister for Health and Children the number of patients on waiting lists who died in each year since 1990; the numbers in each speciality; and the geographical breakdown of the number. [5887/98]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 46, 80 and 140 together.
I recently announced a series of initiatives aimed at reducing hospital waiting lists in areas such as those mentioned by the Deputy. These include: the allocation so far of £9 million for the waiting list initiative for 1998, with a further £3 million yet to be allocated — this represents a 50 per cent increase over the funding allocated in 1997; where applicable, individual agencies have been notified in their determination of net expenditure for 1998 of the level of funding available to them for waiting list work. This will give agencies much earlier notice of the money available than in previous years and will enable them to plan their activity accordingly; each agency's service plan must now specify targets for waiting list activity during the year. It will then be the responsibility of the chief executive officer-hospital manager to ensure that the targets are achieved and to take corrective action if necessary as the year proceeds; agencies have been instructed to focus increasingly on waiting times as well as on waiting lists, with the objective of ensuring that children do not have to wait longer than six months and adults no longer than 12 months in the specialties targeted for attention; where agencies have not already done so, they have been requested to designate an individual to act as a co-ordinator of waiting list work within the agency and as a contact point with the Department.
I am confident that taken together, these measures offer the best means of reducing waiting lists and waiting times. This will be to the benefit of all patients who depend on the services provided in public hospitals.
The aim of the waiting list initiative is to reduce both waiting lists and waiting times in target specialties. Most of the specialties involved, such as orthopaedics and ear, nose and throat, do not generally relate to life-threatening conditions. They are primarily directed towards improving quality of life.
Information relating to persons who have died while awaiting treatment is not collected by my Department. It should be borne in mind that patients may die from conditions not connected with the treatment for which they are on a waiting list.
