Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Tuesday, 9 Dec 1997

Vol. 484 No. 3

Written Answers. - Hospital Waiting Lists.

Richard Bruton

Ceist:

223 Mr. R. Bruton asked the Minister for Health and Children if he will give details of the throughput of new outpatient attendance and surgical operations in ear, nose and throat in the Dublin area; the average waiting time for a first appointment in this regard; the average waiting time between a first appointment and surgery; and the initiative, if any, he plans to shorten these times. [21882/97]

Minister for Health and Children (Mr. Cowen)

The information requested by the Deputy is not collected on a routine basis by my Department. Accordingly, I have asked the indiviudal hospitals in the Dublin area which provide ENT services to reply directly to the Deputy. I have provided a total of £12 million to address hospital waiting lists in 1998, £3 million of which will be used to tackle cardiac waiting lists and other priority areas and £19 million towards a number of other principal target specialties including ENT. Of this £9 million, £4.2 million is being allocated to agencies in the Eastern Health Board area.

I have reviewed the arrangements for application of waiting list funding and I have taken the following initiatives to improve the effectiveness of the system. Where applicable, agencies have been notified in their Determination of Net Expenditure for 1998 of the level of funding available to them for waiting list work. This will give agencies much earlier notice of the money available than in previous years and will enable them to plan their activity accordingly. Each agency's service plan must now specify targets for waiting list activity during the year. It will then be the responsibility of the chief executive officer-hospital manager to ensure that the targets are achieved and to take corrective action if necessary as the year proceeds. Agencies have been instructed to focus increasingly on waiting times as well as on waiting lists, with the objective of ensuring that children do not have to wait longer than six months and adults no longer than 12 months in the specialties targeted for attention. Where agencies have not already done so, they have been requested to designate an individual to act as a co-ordinator of waiting list work within their agency and as a contact point with the Department.