Jack Wall
Question:230 Mr. Wall asked the Minister for Health and Children the number on the waiting list for heart transplants in the Eastern Health Board region; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19854/99]
Written Answers. - Hospital Waiting Lists.
I have had inquiries made of the Mater Misericordiae Hospital, which is the national centre for cardiac surgery and have been informed that there are currently 14 patients awaiting heart transplantation, two of whom reside within the Eastern Health Board area.
In addition, there are currently 17 Irish residents awaiting heart-lung transplants in the UK, nine of whom are within the Eastern Health Board area.
Jack Wall
Question:231 Mr. Wall asked the Minister for Health and Children the number on the waiting list for hip replacements in the Eastern Health Board region; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19855/99]
The number of people in the Eastern Health Board area awaiting hip replacements, as at 30 June 1999, the latest date for which information is available, is 513. Of these 513 people, 310 have been waiting between three and 12 months and 203 have been waiting over 12 months.
In 1999, I provided over £6 million to the hospitals in the Eastern Health Board region area under the waiting list initiative.
Nationally, the waiting list figures at the end of June 1999 show a reduction of 1,072 on the March figures. This means that waiting lists have fallen by almost 3,000, some 8 per cent, since the beginning of this year. The reduction in March and June 1999 are the first since December 1996. The results are the first time in which waiting lists have fallen in two successive quarters.
Since coming into office, I have taken an inte grated approach to the problem of waiting lists. As the Deputy will be aware, I commissioned a review of the waiting list initiative. I am now implementing a series of measures aimed at tackling the root causes of waiting lists. I allocated £20 million this year to agencies specifically to undertake waiting list work, with £3 million of this funding being allocated to the agencies who achieved the greatest improvements in their waiting lists in the first quarter of the year. This was in line with the recommendations of the review group report.
I also allocated £9 million to services to older people and £2 million to accident and emergency services, with the aim of freeing acute hospital beds by ensuring the streamlining of emergency services and providing additional step-down and rehabilitation facilities for older people.
I am confident that the measures I have taken in tackling waiting lists represents the best way of addressing the underlying causes of waiting lists and long waiting times.