Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 16 Jun 1998

Vol. 492 No. 4

Written Answers. - Hospital Waiting Lists.

Proinsias De Rossa

Question:

49 Proinsias De Rossa asked the Minister for Health and Children if he has received the report of the review group on hospital waiting lists; if the report will be published; if he will give the numbers on waiting lists by each hospital and speciality; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14134/98]

Dick Spring

Question:

74 Mr. Spring asked the Minister for Health and Children if he will provide details of the 1997 waiting list initiative in relation to the additional funding provided and the number of additional procedures per speciality performed; and the number of additional procedures per speciality proposed to be carried out for the additional funding allocated. [14247/98]

Seán Haughey

Question:

205 Mr. Haughey asked the Minister for Health and Children the measures, if any, he is taking to reduce hospital waiting lists; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14155/98]

Minister for Health and Children (Mr. Cowen)

I propose to take Questions Nos. 49, 74 and 205 together.

I have provided a total of £12 million to address hospital waiting lists in 1998 which represents a 50 per cent increase on the funding made available in 1997. This funding was made available in January 1998 with the allocation to health agencies thus enabling them to co-ordinate their waiting list initiative activity with their normal activity over the full year. This brings to £70 million the total resources committed to the reduction of hospital waiting lists since the current initiative commenced in 1993. In addition in December 1997, my Department issued a policy circular which put in place the following arrangements relating to the waiting lists initiative.

Agencies were notified in their determination of net expenditure of the level of funding available to them. This has given agencies early notice of the money available and will enable them to plan their activity accordingly. Agencies were asked to specify targets for waiting list activity in their service plans during the year. It is the responsibility of the chief executive officerhospital manager to ensure that the targets are achieved and to take corrective action as necessary. There will be an increased focus 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 and agencies have been requested to designate an individual to act as a co-ordinator of waiting list work and as a contact point with the funding agency.

In order to maximise the effectiveness of the waiting list initiative, I have established a review group consisting of clinicians and managers to consider the net effect of the current waiting list initiative on waiting lists and waiting time; any incentive effects of the waiting list initiative on participating hospitals in relation to their activity and treatment schedules; the extent to which hospitals can consistently and accurately validate their waiting lists; and the adequacy of existing information systems to permit routine evaluation of the waiting list initiative.

I have asked the review group to report to me by the end of June so that its recommendations can be taken into account for the Estimates process in 1999 and subsequent years. I expect to receive the report as soon as it is finalised. I propose to make the report available.

The numbers on waiting lists by hospital and by specialty are set out in the following tables. The information relates to 31 December 1997, the latest period for which validated figures are available.

A total of £8 million was provided by the previous Government in 1997 for work under the waiting list initiative. Details of the number of projected and actual procedures by specialty are set out in the following table. These figures relate only to procedures carried out under the waiting list initiative. Further procedures in these specialties were carried out as part of normal hospital activity.

Waiting Lists by Hospital, December 1997

Adelaide Hospital	823
Beaumont Hospital	1,575
Cavan General Hospital	252
Coombe Women's Hospital	68
Cork University Hospital	872
Ennis	0
Ennis General Hospital	0
Hume Street Hospital (Dublin)	0
James Connolly Memorial Hospital (Blanchardstown)	109
Letterkenny General Hospital	635
Longford/Westmeath General Hospital (Mullingar)	121
Louth County Hospital, Dundalk	33
Mallow General Hospital	0
Mater Misericordiae Hospital	3,589
Mayo General Hospital, Castlebar	45
Meath Hospital	576
Mercy Hospital, Cork	616
Merlin Park Regional Hospital, Galway	580
Monaghan General hospital	341
Naas General Hospital	61
National Children's Hosp. (Harcourt St.)	37
National Maternity Hospital, Holles St.	71
National Rehabilitation Hospital	0
Nenagh General Hospital	0
Orthopaedic Hospital, Kilcreene	516
Our Lady Of Lourdes Hospital, (Drogheda)	336
Our Lady's General Hospital, Navan	587
Our Lady's Hospital, (Crumlin)	614
Our Lady's Hospital, Cashel	55
Portiuncula Hospital, (Ballinasloe)	221
Portlaoise General Hospital	198
Regional Hospital, (Dooradoyle) Limerick	1,328
Regional Orthopaedic Hospital (Croom)	643
Roscommon General Hospital	10
Rotunda Hospital, (Dublin)	52
Royal Victoria Eye and Ear Hosp.	598
Sligo Regional Hospital	1,309
South Infirmary/Victoria Hsptl. Ltd.	1,132
St. Columcille's Hospital (Loughlinstown)	0
St. John's Hospital (Limerick)	237
St. Joseph's Hospital, Clonmel	215
St. Luke's Hospital, Kilkenny	504
St. Luke's and St. Anne's Hospitals	0
St. Mary's Hospital, Cappagh	1,027
St. Mary's Hospital, Gurranebraher	769
St. Michael's Hospital (Dunlaoire)	177
St. Vincent's Hospital (Elm Park)	1,839
St. James's Hospital	2,417
Temple Street Children's Hosp. (Dublin)	1,089
Tralee General Hospital	239
Tullamore General Hospital	1,746
University College Hospital, Galway	2,430
Waterford Maternity Hospital (Airmount)	0
Waterford Regional Hospital, Ardkeen	1,287
Wexford General Hospital	225
Total	32,206

Waiting Lists by Specialty, December 1997

Cardiac Surgery	1,371
Cardiology	1,299
Chemotherapy	0
Dental	347
Dermathology	24
E.N.T.	7,135
Endocrine	64
Endocrinology	4
Endoscopy	153
Gastro-enterology	139
Genito-Urinary	8
Gerontology	4
Gynaecology	2,216
Haematology	3
Maxillo-Facial	277
Medicine	67
Metabolic	0
Nephrology	18
Neurology	59
Neurosurgery	175
Obstetrics	0
Oncology	1
Opthalmology	3,002
Orthodontics	0
Orthopaedics	6,432
Paediatrics	0
Pain	209
Plastic Surgery	1,720
Psychiatry	12
Radiotherapy	0
Rehabilitation	0
Renal	0
Respiratory	97
Rheumatology	54
Surgery	2,958
Thoracic	25
Urology	1,604
Vascular	2,726
Total	32,206

Specialty	Projected, 1997	Actual Number Performed, 1997
Ear, Nose and Throat	1683	2327
General Surgery	1534	2239
Gynaecology	595	807
Opthalmology	1099	1853
Orthopaedics	1560	2757
Plastic Surgery	345	533
Urology	378	340
Vascular Surgery	440	397
Total	7634	11253

Of the £8 million allocated under the waiting list initiative in 1997, the sum of £1.7 million was specifically directed towards reducing the national cardiac surgery waiting list. A combination of approaches were used by hospitals to achieve this objective. As well as purchasing additional cardiac surgery procedures, patients were also reassessed with a view to using alternative therapies such as interventional cardiology or medical treatment, as clinically appropriate. I am pleased to say that this initiative was very successful in reducing the adult waiting list by 203 between September 1997 and December 1997.

This year, a sum of £3 million is being made available specifically for cardiac surgery patients. As in 1997, the aim will be to reduce the overall numbers waiting for cardiac surgery and it is expected that the successful strategy applied in 1997 will be adopted again. Final decisions on the allocation of the cardiac initiative funding will be announced shortly and I am confident that this will have a positive impact on both the overall numbers waiting and the average waiting times.