Vol. 498 No. 4
326 Ms Shortall asked the Minister for Health and Children if a person (details supplied) in Dublin 16 will be called for a tonsillectomy; his views on the waiting times for children who require tonsillectomies; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27877/98]
The Deputy will appreciate that the scheduling of hospital appointments is solely a matter for the relevant hospital personnel to determine, based upon clinical priority. Therefore, I have asked the chief executive officer at the hospital concerned to reply to the Deputy in this regard as a matter of urgency.
The waiting list initiative was launched in June 1993. Its purpose is to reduce waiting times in target specialties to no longer than 12 months for adults and six months for children. To this end, it channels dedicated funding to selected specialties and hospitals. A total of £70 million was spent on the waiting list initiative between 1993 and 1998 and a further £20 million has been allocated for 1999. This brings the total allocated for a dedicated stream of waiting list funding to £90 million since 1993.
By the end of 1997, approximately 85,000 patients had benefited from the waiting list initiative in target specialties, including ear, nose and throat procedures, incorporating tonsillectomies.
It is estimated that a further 15,000 procedures will be carried out this year across the target specialties, using funding of £12 million from the waiting list initiative, bringing the total number benefiting to some 100,000.
