Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Wednesday, 10 Mar 1993

Vol. 427 No. 7

Written Answers. - Plastic Surgery Waiting List.

Liz McManus

Ceist:

139 Ms McManus asked the Minister for Health if his attention has been drawn to the fact that only 2 per cent of operating time is spent on elective treatment at the department of plastic surgery in St. James's Hospital, Dublin 8, which is the national referral centre for plastic surgery; the steps, if any, he plans to take to tackle the waiting list which is now in excess of 600 patients, many of whom are waiting years for elective surgery; and if he will make a statement on the matter.

Minister for Health (Mr. Howlin)

The position is that St. James's Hospital, being the national referral centre for plastic surgery, receives emergency cases from hospitals throughout the country. The Deputy will appreciate that emergency and urgent cases must receive priority over elective or more routine cases. However, waiting list figures are constantly monitored by the hospital, and each case is assessed to determine its medical priority. Should a patient feel that their condition has deteriorated, they should return to their family doctor who will be in the best position to emphasise the urgency of their case to the consultant directly.

The Deputy will be interested to know that St. James's Hospital is currently in the process of recruiting an additional Consultant Plastic Surgeon, the interviews for which will be held towards the end of April.

Twenty million pounds has been provided this year in the Health Estimates to reduce waiting lists for certain specialities where there are long waiting times for admission to hospital. Plastic surgery is one such speciality and my Department will, in the course of the next few weeks, be discussing with St. James's Hospital its plans in relation to the elimination of waiting lists in excess of 12 months in plastic surgery and other specialities for which there are unduly long waiting times.