asked the Minister for Health the steps he is taking to provide urgent surgery for a person (details supplied) in County Tipperary who is on the waiting list for a considerable period at the Adelaide Hospital, Dublin 2.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Questions. - Need for Urgent Surgery.
15.
I understand that the patient referred to is on the waiting list for a discogram in the Adelaide Hospital. The urgency attached to any patient's condition is a matter for the clinical judgment of the consultant concerned. If the patient concerned contacts his general practitioner he will determine whether the patient's circumstances would warrant an approach to the consultant — or some other consultant — on the patient's behalf.
There has been a reduction in the number of discograms performed due to the illness of a radiologist specialising in this particular form of investigation.
Is the Minister aware that this young man has been awaiting a very serious back operation for two and a half years? Furthermore, is the Minister aware that the operating theatre in the Adelaide Hospital will be closing for a month over the Christmas period, which will create an even greater backlog? I am aware that there are people from Cork city awaiting admission to the Adelaide Hospital.
My information is not that the man has been on the waiting list for two and a half years but rather since 20 April last. Unfortunately, the position is that one of the two consultant radiologists, or the consultant most actively involved in this specialised form of X-ray, is on sick leave and is unlikely to return to duty until after Christmas. With regard to the question of the operating theatre, I have not had any indication that they will be closing. All I know is that they received an extra £425,000 out of the £15 million, that they intend to continue working and hope to carry out another 100 hip operations as a result of that increased allocation between now and the end of the year.