Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Thursday, 8 Oct 1998

Vol. 494 No. 6

Written Answers. - Hospital Waiting Lists.

Brian O'Shea

Ceist:

29 Mr. O'Shea asked the Minister for Health and Children when he received the report of the Review Group on the Waiting List Initiative; the main recommendations of the report; the action, if any, he will take on foot of these recommendations; if he will make the report available to Dáil Éireann; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18899/98]

Liz McManus

Ceist:

32 Ms McManus asked the Minister for Health and Children the actions, if any, he proposes to take to reduce hospital waiting lists in view of the hardship being endured by many patients waiting long periods for treatment or procedures; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18844/98]

Bernard J. Durkan

Ceist:

60 Mr. Durkan asked the Minister for Health and Children the number of patients awaiting admission to hospital and who have been diagnosed as needing treatment; the numbers on these waiting lists a year ago; the measures, if any, he has put in place in the interim which he judges necessary to have a beneficial input in reducing these waiting lists; his views on the current situation; the plans, if any, he has to address the problem; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18841/98]

Minister for Health and Children (Mr. Cowen)

I propose to take Questions Nos. 29, 32 and 60 together.

The total number of persons on waiting lists at the end of June 1998, the latest date for which figures are available is 34,331. The corresponding figure for June 1997 was 30,453.

I have provided a total of £12 million to address hospital waiting lists in 1998 which represents a 50 per cent increase over the funding made available by the previous Government in 1997. This funding was made available in January 1998 with the allocation to health agencies thus enabling them to co-ordinate their waiting list initiative activity with their normal activity over the full year. This brings to £70 million the total resources committed to the reduction of hospital waiting lists since the current initiative commenced in 1993. In addition, in December 1997 my Department issued a policy circular which put in place the following arrangements relating to the waiting list initiative. Agencies were notified in their determination of net expenditure of the level of funding available to them.

This gave agencies early notice of the money available and enabled them to plan their activity accordingly. Agencies were asked to specify targets for waiting list activity in their service plans during the year. It is the responsibility of the chief executive officer/hospital manager to ensure that the targets are achieved and to take corrective action as necessary. There will be an increased focus 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. Agencies were requested to designate an individual to act as a co-ordinator of waiting list work and as a contact point with the funding agency.

In order to maximise the effectiveness of the waiting list initiative, I established a review group consisting of clinicians and managers to consider: the net effect of the current waiting list initiative on waiting lists and waiting times; any incentive effects of the waiting list initiative on participating hospitals in relation to their activity and treatment schedules; the extent to which hospitals can consistently and accurately validate their waiting lists; and the adequacy of existing information systems to permit routine evaluation of the waiting list initiative. I received the report of the review group in August and the contents of the report have been the subject of consultation and discussion by me and my Department with the Department of Finance in the context of the ongoing discussion on the estimates for 1999.