Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Wednesday, 29 Sep 1999

Vol. 508 No. 1

Written Answers. - Hospital Services.

Ruairí Quinn

Ceist:

468 Mr. Quinn asked the Minister for Health and Children if the pain clinic in St Vincent's Hospital, Elm Park, Dublin 4, was given £500,000 in 1999 to cover the cost of operations for people suffering from debilitating chronic pain; the number of patients still waiting for this type of operation which are not covered by private insurance; the number of beds the consultant has in the hospital; the number of operations cancelled during 1999; the average waiting time for patients; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18541/99]

Minister for Health and Children (Mr. Cowen):

The development of services for people suffering from chronic pain at St. Vincent's Hospital, Elm Park, is a matter, in the first instance, for the hospital, having regard to overall service priorities and in the context of the general delivery of anaesthetic services within their designated catchment area of south east Dublin and east Wicklow.

The joint south east Dublin department of anaesthesia is the co-ordinating body for the planning and development of anaesthetic services in the region, including pain management programmes. It is comprised of clinicians and management from the acute general hospitals in the region, including St. Vincent's Hospital. The joint department has developed an integrated plan for the delivery of pain management services across the region. The plan divides pain services into various sub-divisions from the initial consultation contact with the patient at out-patient or in-patient level, to the more sophisticated spinal implantation procedure.

With regard to the service provided by St. Vincent's Hospital, Elm Park, I was pleased to allocate additional funding of £1.4 million to the hospital in 1999 to meet additional costs arising from continued developments of which £80,000 was allocated by the hospital to pain management services. The hospital has agreed to fund 30 procedures involving insertion of nerve stimulators. I have been informed by the hospital that there are approximately 100 patients awaiting admission for this procedure. The average waiting time in this regard is approximately one year. The consultant concerned has access to one and five day beds for other procedures and one protected designated bed for patients undergoing this procedure. To date no operations have been cancelled in 1999.

The hospital has informed me that the pain management service at St. Vincent's Hospital receives a significant number of referrals which are coming from outside the hospital catchment area. In this regard, I feel that it may be appropriate for each health board to consider the provision of this service in the overall context of developing services on a regional basis.