The numbers on waiting lists and the waiting times for persons waiting for in-patient treatment in the specialties of ENT, gynaecology, orthopaedics and general surgery at Tralee General Hospital at 30 September 2001, in the format collected by my Department, are being provided separately to the Deputy.
Data on radiological services are not routinely collected by my Department. My Department, therefore, has asked the chief executive officer at the Southern Health Board to look into this matter and reply directly to the Deputy.
The figures supplied to my Department by Tralee General Hospital show that considerable progress has been made in reducing the number of people waiting for in-patient services at the hospital over the past 12 months. The number of people waiting for in-patient treatment at September 2001 was 118. This figure represents a decrease of 52% on the comparable figures for September 2000. The number of people waiting for general surgery has fallen by 97% during the same period. Considerable progress has also been made in reducing waiting times. The number of people waiting for more than 12 months between September 2000 and September 2001 has decreased by 53%.
I was pleased to announce recently the commissioning of an additional 16 beds at Tralee General Hospital. This represents an additional investment for the hospital of €1.7 million in both capital and revenue costs. These new public beds are part of the first phase of the provision of additional acute hospital beds as announced in the new health strategy, Quality and Fairness – A Health System for You. This increase in bed capacity will help to continue the work which has been done over recent years in reducing the in-patient waiting lists at the hospital.
