I am pleased to have the opportunity to raise this matter. This is not something that has happened since the elevation of the former Minister for Health and Children, Deputy Cowen, to the position of Minister for Foreign Affairs, but it is something of which he is aware as a constituency colleague as well as a Cabinet Minister.
It is extraordinary that over the past few years, in spite of increased spending on the health services of the order of 45%, there is little in terms of a service to the community by return. The situation in Tullamore General Hospital, which is the orthopaedic unit serving the midland counties of Longford, Westmeath, Offaly and Laois, is such as to give rise to serious concern. The increase in the hospital waiting list is to the order of 52% since the Government took office.
In mid-1997 there were 1,378 persons on the waiting list and in April 2000 that number has risen to 2,127. The bulk of these are persons waiting for orthopaedic and ear, nose and throat surgery, many of whom are children, many of whom are suffering and many of whom are in pain. Clearly, the current Government strategy, if there is one, is failing abysmally as far as the Midland Health Board is concerned. I charge the Minister for Health and Children, Deputy Martin, with responsibility in that regard.
Of the 2,127 people awaiting treatment in Tullamore hospital, 815 people have been on the waiting list for treatment for a year or more. These 815 people have been waiting for a bed for a period in excess of 12 months. Almost half, or 443, have been waiting over a year for ear, nose and throat procedures. Some 88 people have been on the waiting list for hip or knee operations for over a year in the Midland Health Board area. The sample profile is that of a man, a breadwinner in his early sixties, almost immobile, suffering considerable pain while waiting with his 87 colleagues for over a year for a bed in the hospital.
These figures surely demonstrate the very serious problems within the health services, with particular reference to the Midland Health Board. The response of the Government, as the Minister of State at the Department of Health and Children, Deputy Moffatt, will surely inform us again, is to increase the health spending by the order of 45%. Simply throwing money at the problem will not resolve the issue. There appear to be more serious problems, particularly in the area of orthopaedics.
Many of these people who are waiting are elderly. They are sick, sore and suffering. It flies in the face of a booming economy that we have 815 people awaiting treatment for over a year. If any of these people had a cheque book or a healthy bank balance they would not be waiting for a year or for a month but would have their treatment straight away. Such is the inequity within our health services that persons who cannot pay top dollar or top buck will not have the opportunity to have their procedure, be it surgical or otherwise, dealt with to relieve them of the pain and suffering.
The situation in Tullamore hospital is the fifth worst in the land. The waiting list, outside the Dublin area and excluding University College Hospital, Cork, is the longest in the country.
I appreciate the dedication of the staff at Tullamore General Hospital. Recent criticism levelled at those who engage in quoting figures for waiting lists seems to suggest that there is some correlation between persons waiting in a queue and a less than efficient attitude on the part of the staff. The staff are in no way to blame for the waiting lists in this instance.
Let me refer to remarks attributed to the chief executive officer of the Midland Health Board who stated that the quoting of figures such as I have cited is not only less than helpful but, as he says, 'political nonsense'. I take severe exception to these comments. The role and function of the chief executive officer of the health board is not to act in any way as a ministerial side-kick in this issue. He should get on with the job of ensuring there is an efficient service and deal with the thousands of applications from persons waiting for treatment at Tullamore General Hospital. I look forward to the Minister's response.