Vol. 524 No. 5
351 Mr. Allen asked the Minister for Health and Children if he has satisfied himself that all hospitals are complying with the patient's charter in respect to giving specific times for out-patient appointments in view of the fact that the contents of a previous reply showed that at least ten hospitals were not complying with the patient's charter; and, if not, the hospitals which are not so complying. [23248/00]
The Deputy will be aware that a Charter of Rights for Hospital Patients was introduced in August 1992. It provides guidelines for good stan dards of practice in acute hospitals. Although the charter has no statutory basis, its objective is to ensure that the health service becomes more responsive to the needs of the individual patient and that there is a code of practice available which sets out what patients have a right to expect when they make use of hospital services.
On the specific issues of the scheduling of appointments, section 2 of the charter states that:
You have the right, when your family doctor refers you to hospital for an out-patient appointment, to:
receive confirmation within a reasonable time of the date of your first appointment;
be given an individual appointment time;
be seen by a consultant or senior doctor on your first appointment.
You have the right, should your appointment at an out-patient department be cancelled by the hospital, to receive adequate and timely notice of such cancellation and to be given a new appointment on a priority basis.
A previous response to the Deputy indicated that 11 acute hospitals had not fully implemented the patient's charter guidelines regarding out-patient appointments due to logistical and other factors. I now understand that almost all of the hospitals concerned are allocating individual out-patient appointments whilst the remainder, St. Michael's Hospital, Dun Laoghaire, the Rotunda Hospital, Dublin, and Mayo General Hospital, are currently putting in place structures with a view to meeting in full the provisions of the charter.
The patients' charter was an important step in developing awareness of patients' rights and I intend to develop a comprehensive policy which will build on the good standards of practice which the charter provides.
