Vol. 538 No. 3
217 Mr. Allen asked the Minister for Health and Children if, further to Parliamentary Question No. 266 of 29 May 2001, he will state the waiting times and waiting lists in both in-patient and out-patient, public and private, in each hospital. [17846/01]
The hospital in-patient waiting times and the numbers on waiting lists as at 31 December 2000, our latest available figures, in the format collected by my Department, are being communicated separately to the Deputy. Out-patient and private patient waiting list data is not routinely collected by my Department.
218 Mr. Allen asked the Minister for Health and Children the reason out-patient waiting list data, such as waiting times and waiting lists, are not collected by his Department. [17847/01]
Under the waiting list initiative which was introduced in 1993, dedicated funding is made available to health agencies to enable hospitals to carry out in-patient waiting list procedures. In order to monitor the performance of health agencies under this initiative, my Department collects and evaluates in-patient waiting list figures on a quarterly basis. There is no corresponding dedicated funding line in the case of out-patient services and, as a result, my Department does not collect information of the kind mentioned by the Deputy.
