Written Answers - Hospital Waiting Lists.
Brendan Howlin
Ceist:
239
Mr. Howlin
asked the
Minister for Health and Children
the number of patients awaiting cardiac by-pass surgery at each cardiac centre; the average waiting period between prescription and admission to hospital for this surgery; and the longest period of time for which any patient has been included on the waiting list for this surgery.
[2509/99]
Cardiac by-pass surgery in the public health sector is currently carried out at three centres, the Mater Misericordiae Hospital, Dublin, Cork University Hospital and, since September 1998, St. James's Hospital, Dublin.
As the Deputy will be aware, public patient waiting list statistics are collected by hospitals and furnished to my Department on a quarterly basis. At the end of September 1998, the most recent period for which information is available, there was a total of 1,165 adults awaiting cardiac surgery. Of these, 974 patients were waiting specifically for coronary artery by-pass surgery as per the breakdown for each cardiac centre below.
|
MaterHospital
|
CorkUniversityHospital
|
St. James'sHospital
|
|
597
|
56
|
321
|
Regarding average waiting times and length of time on the cardiac surgery list for patients, the Deputy may wish to know that, on foot of the recommendations of the waiting list initiative review group report, agencies are in the process of validating their waiting lists in line with the policy circular and guidelines issued by my Department on 7 January 1999. I will revert to the Deputy at the earliest opportunity with this information which should provide a more comprehensive and accurate picture of the situation regarding waiting times for cardiac surgery.
The Deputy will be aware that, in 1998, I allocated funding of £2.3 million under the cardiac surgery waiting list initiative, with the specific aim of reducing the national cardiac surgery waiting list for adults and children. In 1999, I have made provision for the allocation of £4 million under the cardiac surgery waiting list initiative and I am confident that this funding will build on last year's success in reducing the total number of adults and children on the waiting list. The impact of the 1998 cardiac surgery waiting list initiative was to reduce the overall numbers waiting – adults and children – at the end of September 1998 by 349. This represents a reduction of 22 per cent on the figure for September 1997.
As the Minister for Health and Children, my priority is to address the existing cardiac surgery waiting lists and the ultimate objective is to achieve an average six month waiting period for those on the lists. I am confident that the development of additional adult public cardiac surgery facilities at St. James's Hospital, Dublin and University College Hospital, Galway will help reduce the waiting lists which exist at present. Target activity levels are in the region of 450 procedures annually at St. James's Hospital and 300 procedures at UCHG. This additional activity will increase existing adult public cardiac surgery capacity by over 50 per cent. I am also developing additional children's cardiac surgery capacity at Our Lady's Hospital for Sick Children, Crumlin in association with the National Cardiac Unit, Mater Hospital to provide for up to an additional 100 cardiac procedures for children. This additional activity will increase existing paediatric cardiac surgery capacity by up to 40 per cent.
