asked the Minister for Health if he will initiate an examination of the waiting lists for admission to hospital services with a view to publishing comprehensive data to indicate the specialised areas most affected; the numbers awaiting treatment; the length of waiting periods; and the geographic disparities.
Written Answers - Hospital Services.
23.
Reliable information of a comprehensive nature along the lines mentioned by the Deputy is not readily available to my Department on a routine basis. However, the waiting lists for specialties where delays are known to occur are kept under regular review. These would include, for example, the waiting lists for cardiac by-pass surgery and orthopaedic joint replacements.
The Department has this issue under review for some time and it is hoped to begin collecting comprehensive information on waiting lists for 1988 and subsequent years.