Fianna Fáil TD Eugene Murphy, has expressed his outrage over waiting list figures that show that 78,499 patients are now waiting for in-patient / day case surgery.
Eugene Murphy said “Waiting lists for hospital procedures have been on a persistent upward trend for some two years now. The corresponding figure for August 2014 was 53,431 so we have seen an increase well in excess of almost 47 per cent since then.”
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“Targets on waiting times have been consistently missed, even after they were widened. There are now 1,755 people waiting for in patient/day case surgery in Roscommon Hospital which is an increase of 1,229 people since August 2014 and a percentage increase of over 200% which simply beggars belief. The figures also show that there are currently 2,833 people waiting for similar in patient/day case surgery in Sligo which is an increase of 1,191 or over 72% since August 2014 while in Portiuncula Hospital in Ballinasloe there are 154 people waiting which is an increase of 32 or 26% since 2014. In Galway University Hospital there are now a total of 11,673 people waiting for in patent/ day case surgery which is an increase of 4,701 people or a massive 67% since August 2014 which indicates what we already know is that Galway is simply bursting at the seams and unable to cope with the increasing numbers,” added Eugene Murphy.
Outpatient appointments
“The number of patients waiting for on outpatient consultation also continues to rise and again the targets continue to be missed. Some 22,309 people are waiting more than 18 months to see a consultant with 74,084 are waiting over a year. This is simply not acceptable. The figures show that in Galway University Hospital some 1,681 people are now waiting over 18 months to see a consultant and that figure has increased by 814 or 93% since December 2015 which indicates the problem is escalating to crisis levels. In Roscommon County Hospital 153 people are waiting over 18 months to see a consultant which is actually a staggering increase of 273% or 112 people since December 2015 which is simply outrageous. In Sligo the figures are also appalling as some 118 people are waiting more than 18 months for a consultant which is an increase of 95 people or over 400%!,” said Deputy Murphy.
5,500 Children
“Appallingly some 5,500 children are waiting more than a year for an outpatient appointment in the Children’s Hospital Group. Bear in mind that this figure excludes children who may be waiting for appointments in other hospitals.”
“It is very disappointing that the June supplementary health estimate has not made a difference to these. A sustained effort is required to tackle this. As part of our Confidence and Supply Agreement with Fine Gael, the reactivation of the National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF) has been secured, and will, in the short term, provide extra capacity to deal with the backlogs,” concluded Deputy Murphy