Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 19 Oct 1999

Vol. 509 No. 4

Written Answers. - Hospital Waiting Lists.

Batt O'Keeffe

Question:

233 Mr. B. O'Keeffe asked the Minister for Health and Children the number of bypass operations carried out in each of the acute hospitals; the number of consultants involved in each hospital; and the impact made on the waiting list. [20498/99]

Minister for Health and Children (Mr. Cowen)

Adult cardiac bypass surgery in the public health sector is currently carried out at three centres, the Mater Misericordiae Hospital, Dublin, Cork University Hospital and since September 1998, St. James's Hospital, Dublin. There are a total of nine cardiac surgeons, including two in Cork University Hospital, involved in carrying out cardiac bypass surgery in these hospitals. By the end of September 1999, 886 bypass operations had been carried out since 1 January 1999. The breakdown by hospital is as follows, St. James's Hospital, 16; Mater Misericordiae Hospital, 557; and Cork University, Hospital 313.

As the Deputy will be aware, public patient waiting list statistics are collected by hospitals and furnished to my Department on a quarterly basis. At the end of June 1999, the most recent period for which information is available, there were a total of 763 adults awaiting cardiac surgery over 12 months and 259 waiting for three to 12 months. There were a total of 66 children awaiting cardiac surgery over six months, and 18 waiting for three to six months.

The Deputy will be aware that, in 1998, I allocated funding of £2.3 million under the cardiac surgery waiting list initiative, with the specific aim of reducing the national cardiac surgery waiting list for adults and children. In 1999, I have made provision for the allocation of £4 million under the cardiac surgery waiting list initiative and I am confident that this funding will build on last year's success in reducing the total number of adults and children on the waiting list. The cardiac surgery waiting list initiative has a positive impact on the public cardiac waiting list. The total number of public patients awaiting cardiac surgery has reduced from 1,619 in September 1997 to 1,106 in June 1999, this represents a reduction of 32 per cent.

As Minister for Health and Children, my priority is to address the existing cardiac surgery waiting lists and the ultimate objective is to achieve an average six month waiting period for those on the lists. I am confident that the development of additional adult public cardiac surgery facilities at St. James's Hospital, Dublin and University College Hospital, Galway will help reduce the waiting lists which exist at present. Target activity levels are in the region of 450 procedures annually at St. James's Hospital and 300 procedures at UCHG. This additional activity will increase existing adult public cardiac surgery capacity by over 50 per cent. I am also developing additional children's cardiac surgery capacity at Our Lady's Hospital for Sick Children, Crumlin in association with the National Cardiac Unit, Mater Hospital to provide for up to an additional 100 cardiac procedures for children. This additional activity will increase existing paediatric cardiac surgery capacity by up to 40 per cent.

Batt O'Keeffe

Question:

234 Mr. B. O'Keeffe asked the Minister for Health and Children the number of hip replacement operations carried out in each of the acute hospitals; the number of consultants involved in each hospital; and the impact made on the waiting list. [20500/99]

Minister for Health and Children (Mr. Cowen)

The information requested by the Deputy is set out on the following tables.

Table 1 contains details of all hip replacements carried out in public hospitals during 1998, including those for patients on waiting lists. Table 2 shows the total number of consultant ortho paedic surgeons by hospital, including locums, on 31 December 1998.

I am pleased to inform the Deputy that 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 reductions in March and June 1999 are the first since December 1996. The total number of patients awaiting orthopaedic procedures, including hip replacements, was 5,862 on 30 June 1999, representing a reduction of 786 or 11.8 per cent since June 1998.

Since coming into office, I have taken an integrated 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 cause 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.

Table 1

Hospital	Type of Operation	Principal Procedure
Our Lady's Hospital for Sick Children, Crumlin	Revision of Hip Replacement	1
Mater Hospital	Total Hip Replacement	3
	Partial Hip Replacement	72
	Revision of Hip Replacement	9
St. Vincent's Hospital	Partial Hip Replacement	130
	Revision of Hip Replacement	2
St. Mary's Orthopaedic Cappagh	Total Hip Replacement	269
	Revision of Hip Replacement	45
Meath Hospital	Partial Hip Replacement	41
	Revision of Hip Replacement	1
Adelaide Hospital	Total Hip Replacement	111
	Partial Hip Replacement	2
	Revision of Hip Replacement	16
St. James's Hospital	Total Hip Replacement	11
	Partial Hip Replacement	64
	Revision of Hip Replacement	3
James Connolly Memorial Hospital	Partial Hip Replacement	38
Beaumont Hospital	Total Hip Replacement	32
	Partial Hip Replacement	48
	Revision of Hip Replacement	8
Adelaide and Meath Hospital, incorporating the National Children's Hosptial, Tallaght	Total Hip ReplacementPartial Hip Replacement	7025
	Revision of Hip Replacement	4
Waterford Regional Hospital, Ardkeen	Total Hip Replacement	17
	Partial Hip Replacement	124
	Revision of Hip Replacement	19
Lourdes Hospital, Kilcreene	Total Hip Replacement	224
	Partial Hip Replacement	1
	Revision of Hip Replacement	23
St. Mary's Ortho Cork	Total Hip Replacement	364
	Revision of Hip Replacement	29
University College Hospital, Cork	Total Hip Replacement	4
	Partial Hip Replacement	133
	Revision of Hip Replacement	7
Tralee General Hospital	Total Hip Replacement	136
Hospital	Type of Operation	Principal Procedure
	Partial Hip Replacement	51
	Revision of Hip Replacement	2
Croom Orthopaedic Hospital	Total Hip Replacement	243
	Partial Hip Replacement	85
	Revision of Hip Replacement	26
Merlin Park Regional Hospital	Total Hip Replacement	273
	Partial Hip Replacement	166
	Revision of Hip Replacement	41
Tullamore General Hospital	Total Hip Replacement	155
	Partial Hip Replacement	65
	Revision of Hip Replacement	5
Letterkenny General Hospital	Total Hip Replacement	156
	Partial Hip Replacement	57
	Revision of Hip Replacement	5
Sligo Regional Hospital	Total Hip Replacement	99
	Partial Hip Replacement	58
	Revision of Hip Replacement	11
Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Drogheda	Total Hip Replacement	14
	Partial Hip Replacement	25
	Revision of Hip Replacement	3
Our Lady's Hospital, Navan	Total Hip Replacement	179
	Partial Hip Replacement	89
	Revision of Hip Replacement	35
Totals		3,929

Table 2

Orthopaedic Consultants in Voluntary Hospitals and Health Board Hospitals as on 31/12/98

Beaumont	2.55
Coombe Women's Hospital	0.09
Incorporated Orthopaedic Hospital	0.1
James Connolly Memorial Hospital	1.3
Letterkenny General	2.4
Mater	2.54
Merlin Park	9
Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital	2
Our Lady's Hospital for Sick Children	2.05
Croom Orthopaedic	4.89
Rotunda	0.09
Sligo Regional	4.21
St. Mary's Cappagh	5.13
St. Mary's Gurranabraher	6
St. Michael's Dún Laoghaire	0.36
St. Vincent's Hospital Elm Park	1.98
St. James's Hospital	2.36
Adelaide and Meath Hospital, incorporating the National Children's Hospital, Tallaght	4.16
Temple Street Children's Hospital	1.13
Tralee General Hospital	2.18
Tullamore General Hospital	3
Waterford Regional Hospital	7
Total	64.52