Vol. 516 No. 6
310 Mr. Timmins asked the Minister for Health and Children further to Parliamentary Question No. 307 of 21 March 2000, the reason St. Columcille's Hospital, Loughlinstown, was excluded from the list of hospitals referred to; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9111/00]
311 Mr. Timmins asked the Minister for Health and Children the hospital waiting list for St. Columcille's Hospital, Loughlinstown at 1 December 1997, 1 December 1998 and 1 December 1999. [9112/00]
312 Mr. Timmins asked the Minister for Health and Children if St. Columcille's Hospital, Loughlinstown, has benefited from inclusion in the case mix programme since 1997; if it is on an equal footing with other hospitals in view of the fact it is urgently in need of investment and there is a severe shortage of respite beds within its catchment area; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9113/00]
313 Mr. Timmins asked the Minister for Health and Children if he will change the name of St. Columcille's Hospital, Loughlinstown, to the South Eastern General Hospital in view of the fact that this name would be more reflective of the area that it serves; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9114/00]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 310, 311, 312 and 313 together.
I would like to inform the Deputy that there is no waiting list for in-patient services at St. Columcille's Hospital, Loughlinstown and I understand that the reason St. Columcille's Hospital was excluded from the list of hospitals referred to was due to the fact that they have no patients waiting for in-patient treatment in excess of three months.
With reference to the casemix programme, I refer the Deputy to Question No. 356 of Tuesday, 21 March, in which the annual financial adjustments for all hospitals participating in casemix, including St. Columcille's, were detailed in full.
Casemix is an internationally accepted methodology, used in a wide variety of health care settings, to compare activity and costs between hospitals. The essence of casemix is to allow the workload of hospitals to be compared in a manner which takes account of the complexity and volume of the cases treated in each hospital. Furthermore, hospitals participating in casemix also have the opportunity to have any other unique circumstances taken into account to ensure that casemix operates on a consistent basis of comparison. Any such issues that have been brought to the attention of my Department in respect of St. Columcille's have been taken into account in calculating the casemix adjustment, in line with the objective of ensuring the consistent treatment of all participating hospitals.
St. Columcille's Hospital has submitted a development plan to my Department to meet priority needs. These proposals will be considered in the context of decisions to be made on the allocation of funding for hospital developments under the national development plan. In relation to respite beds, a 50 bed community unit for older people is scheduled to open in Dalkey later this year. This unit will include the provision of respite facilities.
314 Dr. Upton asked the Minister for Health and Children the numbers availing of orthodontic treatment in the Eastern Health Board area for each category; his views on whether the delays in treatment is acceptable in this area; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9185/00]
The provision of orthodontic services and the maintenance of waiting lists in the Eastern Regional Health Authority area are the statutory responsibility of the Eastern Regional Health Authority.
Difficulties were encountered in the latter part of 1999 and early 2000 which caused the cancellation of routine orthodontic treatment appointments through the absence of consultant cover. These difficulties have been resolved and the consultant orthodontist is currently involved in drawing up an action plan to deal with those patients whose ongoing treatment was delayed. Routine treatment has been recommenced for the majority of patients and every effort is being made to ensure that those whose appointments are outstanding are seen as quickly as possible.
There are currently 291 category 1 patients and 8,925 category 2 patients in the Eastern Regional Health Authority area awaiting assessment to determine their eligibility for orthodontic treatment. The average waiting time for category 1 patients is approximately nine months and the average waiting time for category 2 patients is four years.
