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Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 8 Dec 1998

Vol. 498 No. 1

Written Answers. - Hospital Waiting Lists.

Róisín Shortall

Question:

244 Ms Shortall asked the Minister for Health and Children the discussions, if any, he has had with the authorities of the Mater Hospital, Dublin 7, in relation to the long waiting lists for various procedures; the action, if any, he has taken to help alleviate the difficulties since the publication of the June 1998 statistics on the extent of the waiting list problem in the hospital; if he will ensure that a person (details supplied) in Dublin 11 will receive appropriate medical treatment from the hospital as soon as possible; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26550/98]

I am extremely conscious of the need to reduce overall waiting lists and average waiting times for procedures. To this end, I have allocated a total of £20 million in 1999 to reduce waiting lists and waiting times significantly. The figure allocated in 1998 for this purpose was £12 million, to which I added a further £8 million for waiting list work in 1999. This total figure of £20 million for 1999 represents a 66 per cent increase over the funding available in 1998, and is 2.5 times higher than the amount allocated in 1997 by the previous Government.

In addition, I have allocated a total of £11 million to service areas which are of particular importance to implementing the recommendations of the review group on the waiting list initiative. The report recommended a range of steps to free up acute hospital facilities for more elective work. It pointed out that a significant proportion of acute hospital beds were being inappropriately used by patients who did not need, or who no longer needed, acute hospital care. This problem arises due to a shortage of places in the areas of "step-down" or convalescent care, rehabilitation facilities and communitybased services which reduce the need to use acute hospital care.
The £11 million that I have allocated with these issues in mind comprises £9 million for services for older people and £2 million for accident and emergency services. It will be allocated so such areas as community nursing units, community supports, home help services and the subvention of nursing homes, all of which have a part to play in reducing pressures on acute hospital facilities.
In relation to the Mater Hospital, the Deputy will wish to know that included in the hospital's letter of determination for 1998 was a sum of £664,000 specifically for the reduction of waiting lists. I can confirm that the waiting list returns which the hospital has furnished to my Department for the end of September 1998, the most recent information available to me, indicate that the Mater Hospital has achieved a reduction of 3 per cent in numbers waiting over the same period last year, in those specialities targeted under the 1998 waiting list initiative. In addition, it has stemmed the growth in the hospital's overall waiting lists. In recent weeks, I have been in discussion with the hospital's management in relation to the hospital's performance under the 1998 initiative and explored with them potential strategies for tackling waiting lists in the coming year. I am pleased to say that the hospital's 1999 allocation under the Waiting List Initiative is £1,250,000, which represents a 100 per cent increase over its 1998 allocation.
Finally, in relation to the query regarding the individual patient case, the Deputy will appreciate that the determination of out-patient appointments is a matter for the hospital authorities in the first instance, based on a clinical assessment of need. Therefore, I have asked the chief executive officer of the Mater Hospital to investigate the position regarding this patient. Given the particular circumstances of this case, I have requested that he reply to the Deputy directly, as a matter of urgency.
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