asked the Minister for Health the plans he has to expedite the two and a half year waiting list in the Children's Hospital, Temple Street, Dublin 1 for children needing ear operations; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
67.
Written Answers. - Hospital Waiting Lists.
42.
asked the Minister for Health if his attention has been drawn to the fact that the waiting list for ear, nose and throat admissions to the Children's Hospital, Temple Street, Dublin 1 is currently three years, that a person (details supplied) in Dublin 22 who has been diagnosed in preliminary tests as profoundly deaf must wait until 1992 to undergo corrective surgery; if he understands the implications of this for the child's educational and social development; and if he intends to take any action to alleviate the situation facing the person concerned and many other children on the waiting list.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 42 and 67 together. As part of an urgent action programme embarked on by the Government, I allocated an additional £250,000 to Temple Street Hospital in order to significantly increase the level of service available there. This included £50,000 to permit the treatment of an additional 170 ENT patients before the end of December who would otherwise have remained on the waiting list, together with £50,000 for ENT equipment. In fact 200 cases have been dealt with and it is hoped to do a further 50 before the end of this year. The remaining £150,000 has also allowed beds to be re-opened and an additional 250 patients to be treated. The hospital regards the reduction of the waiting list for ENT as its immediate priority and I expect that significant progress can be made in regard to clearing the waiting list in the coming months.
I would like to explain that the admission of a patient to hospital is a matter for the clinical decision of the consultant concerned and the hospital authority. Non-urgent (elective) cases may be put on a waiting list to ensure that emergency and urgent cases can be dealt with promptly. I understand that the patient concerned is on the urgent waiting list for admission and that the hospital expect to admit him early in the New Year. I would suggest to the Deputy that if the patient's condition has deteriorated he should return to his general practitioner who would be in the best position to assess and then if necessary to stress the urgency of the case to the consultant concerned.
43.
asked the Minister for Health if his attention has been drawn to the fact that there are 872 patients on the waiting list for cataract operations in the Royal Victoria Eye and Ear Hospital, Dubin 2; the action he intends to take to deal with this waiting list; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
I am aware of the fact that there are approximately 950 patients on the waiting list for cataract surgery at the Royal Victoria Eye and Ear Hospital. I am concerned about the length of this waiting list.
I would like to inform the Deputy that as part of the allocation of an additional £15 million to the health services in August, £200,000 was made available to the Royal Victoria Eye and Ear Hospital to allow them to reduce the cataract waiting list. As a result an additional 250 cataract operations will be undertaken before the end of the year. Work on these additional cases began in September and the agreed programme of work is on target.