Posted on 08/27/2003 8:03:20 AM PDT by Murtyo
Over 400 on Tullamore hospital waiting list
by Eilís Ryan
deputy editor
There are 342 adults and 83 children on the waiting list for in-patient treatment at the Midland Regional Hospital in Tullamore - despite a 5.9 per cent fall in the waiting list, according to the Department of Health and Children.
The Department figures also show that day case waiting lists have been rising at the Hospital, and throughout the Midland Health Board.
Overall, however, waiting lists in the Midland Health Board area have fallen by 5.8 per cent.
The statistics, which date from the end of March, show that six adult patients have been waiting for more than two years for Ear, Nose and Throat treatment at Tullamore.
In total, there are 162 adults on the ENT waiting list, while there are 67 waiting for orthopaedic treatment, and 54 awaiting vascular treatments. The surgical waiting list amounts to 59.
There is a waiting list of 77 children for ENT procedures; of 5 children for surgical procedures, and there is just one child awaiting Orthopaedic treatment.
The day case waiting list at Tullamore rose by 32.3 per cent over the three months from December 2002 to March of this year, according to the figures. There were 96 on the list for day treatment at the end of December, and 127 on the list by the end of the period. The majority of those were awaiting surgical treatment.
The Department of Health and Children announced on Wednesday that in its bid to cut hospital waiting lists nationwide, it was allocating a further €8.8m, on top of the €35m already allocated this year.
Over half the total fund - €5m - is to go to the Eastern Regional Health Agency, while €400,000 of the total allocation is to go to the Midland Health Board.
This latest allocation represents the final sum to be spent on the waiting lists in 2003.
Accordng to the Department, the overall number of patients on hospital waiting lists, both for inpatient and day-case treatment, stood at 28,719 at the end of March 2003.
There had been, the Department said, a significant reduction in the number of adults waiting longest for in-patient treatment.
“The total number of adults waiting more than twelve months for in-patient treatment in the nine target surgical specialties has fallen by approximately 8 per cent, from 5,209 to 4,782 in the period December 2002 to March 2003.”
A reduction of 20 per cent has been achived in the numbers waiting more ethan twelve months for cardiac surgery, over the period December 2002-March 2003, while, in the same period, there was a similar reduction in the waiting list for Opthalmological treatments.
The total number of children waiting for emore than six months for in-patient treatment in the nien target specialties fell by over 35 per cent (Lfrom 1,081 to 697), while the number of children weaiting for orthopaedic and plastic surgery procedures for more than six months has shown a decrease of 67 per cent and 50 per cent respectively.
According to the Department, to date, more than 5,500 patients have received treatment under the National tgreatment Purchase Fund. The results of the NTPF’s recent Patient Satisfaction Survey show a very high level of patient satisfaction with the Scheme.
The Fund has the capacity each month to arrange treatment for five hundred patients in hospitals throughout Ireland and Northern Ireland and also 200 patients in four private hospitals in England. To date, the capacity in England has not been fully utilised.
“I am pleased with the continuing reduction in the number of patients waiting longest for in-patient treatment, in particular, due to the work of the Treatment Purchase Fund. I would urge patients and their GPs to avail of the Fund in order to use capacity to its fullest,” Minster for Health and Children, Deputy Micheal Martin said.
Tullamore Dew is grand stuff.
(However, you might need an awful lot of it, if you're waiting 2 years + to get into the hospital.)
Not quite as good as Midelton's Very Rare, but still excellent! :)
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.