I have received many requests from constituents of mine who are awaiting admission to Croom Orthopaedic Hospital for hip replacement operations and other procedures. It is a matter of grave concern to me that there is now such a long waiting list that it will be years before some of those patients are treated. That is intolerable and we cannot allow it to happen. There are almost 1,000 patients on the waiting list, over 200 for hip replacement operations and 750 for other procedures. Orthopaedic surgery is one of the areas in medical science that has experienced phenomenal success in the past 20 years. Enormous social and lifestyle benefits are afforded by it. What can now be achieved in this field is almost a miracle. Long may it last.
I realise that as people live longer and are more motivated to be up and about, the likelihood of fractures and the need for specialist orthopaedic surgery increases, displacing patients awaiting hip replacements and other operations. It also seems that the general hospitals have ceased to handle any trauma of an orthopaedic nature. As a result, Croom Orthopaedic Hospital is swamped with the volume of trauma cases. The Minister will appreciate that the situation which pertains at present cannot be allowed to continue indefinitely. He must immediately ensure that the Mid-Western Health Board increases the operative time for surgeons in that hospital, provide additional anaesthetists and increase the theatre space and do anything else that is necessary to bring about an improvement so that hip replacement operations can be more expediously carried out.
I acknowledge the advances in the midwest and the investment which the Minister for Health made in the regional hospital and other places which, in time, will help in dealing with these matters. Many of these changes will have long-term benefits for the communities in the midwest. I want to use this opportunity to earnestly request him to do whatever is in his power to relieve the pain endured at present by patients waiting a long time for hip replacement operations and other procedures. A waiting list of 1,000 must be as unacceptable to him as it is to me. Therefore, I ask him to do whatever possible in the interim to give some relief in this area. That is my plea.