Outpatients waiting list up 34 since january

FIANNA Fáil TD for Mayo Dara Calleary says the government’s health strategy has been a disaster for the county, as evidenced by the latest figures on in-patient and out-patient waiting lists.

The latest figures from the National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF) show that almost 400 people joined the out-patient waiting list at Mayo General Hospital since January, increasing the waiting list by 34%. 

Over 26% of all patients are waiting more than 12 months for an appointment.

Deputy Calleary said: “The number of people waiting more than a year for an out-patient appointment has risen by 34% since the start of 2015. This is extremely worrying.

“However, what’s worse is the fact that out-patient waiting times have jumped by 115% since May last year. Over the past 12 months the number of people waiting over a year for an outpatient appointment has increased by 836. 

“This government’s decision to strip the NTPF of its main role in driving down hospital waiting lists has proved to be a disaster for Mayo. In the past, the fund purchased spare capacity from the private sector to cut the number of public patients waiting for treatment in public hospitals. The fund treated almost 200,000 people, with average waiting times being slashed from between two and five years to two to three months. 

“Under Fine Gael and Labour these figures have gone through the roof. Nationally outpatient waiting lists have climbed to over 412,000.”

He continued: “Fianna Fáil is committed to establishing a special task force to produce a plan to ensure that all scheduled day case/in-patient care is delivered within the internationally recognised target of six months. In the meantime the government needs to restore the NTPF to its former role and properly resource it to tackle the waiting list crisis.

“After four years of false budgets, bogus targets and bad ministerial management it’s clear that this government’s health policy has been nothing short of disaster for Mayo and we need a new direction for the health service in Ireland that puts patients and services first.”