Written Answers. - Hospital Waiting Lists.
Thomas P. Broughan
Ceist:
73
Mr. Broughan
asked the
Minister for Health
his views on the recent figures on hospital waiting lists; and the action, if any, he will take to restore the great achievements of declining lists pursued so vigorously by himself and his predecessors.
[19060/95]
, Limerick East): Following the success of last year's waiting list initiative the Government has committed a further £8 million in 1995 to continue to reduce waiting times in a number of target specialties where waiting times are considered excessive.
Emphasis this year has been placed on providing funding to ensure a reduction in waiting lists where waiting times for adults were in excess of 12 months and, for children, of six months. The specialties of ENT, ophthalmology, orthopaedics, plastic surgery, vascular surgery, general surgery, gynaecology and urology are being targeted as needing particular attention.
When the initiative commenced in June 1993 the total in-patient waiting list for all specialties was 40,130. By 31 December 1994 this figure had been reduced to 23,835 which represents a reduction of 16,295 or 40 per cent over a period of 18 months.
An additional 10,394 in-patient procedures are being carried out under the 1995 initiative. This year's initiative also targets out-patient waiting lists where waiting times are excessive. An additional 6,728 persons awaiting an out-patient appointment will be seen. These extra procedures to be performed will be in addition to the level of baseline activity to be carried out in each agency within their approved current expenditure allocation.
While the total waiting list at the end of September 1995 shows an increase over the December 1994 figure, the total number of people waiting for treatment has reduced since the end of March 1995. This indicates that the 1995 waiting list initiative which was launched at the end of June is succeeding in reducing the increased waiting list which had built up due to the rise in emergency activity in the early part of the year. With the majority of additional procedures being performed during the final quarter of the year I am confident that this downward trend in the overall waiting list will continue to the end of the year.
