Patients moved off waiting lists without having seen doctor

Tens of thousands of patients have been moved off waiting lists without having seen a doctor so that a target set by Minister for Health Leo Varadkar can be met.

The HSE says it is spending €25 million to help hospitals slash their waiting lists through putting on extra clinics and appointments and outsourcing work to the private sector.

However, it admits the weekend and out-of-hours clinics for patients have yet to begin, while tendering arrangements with private sector suppliers have yet to be finalised.

Up to 20,000 patients will be treated under the extra package of care designed to cut waiting lists.

At the start of the year, Mr Varadkar set a target of zero patients waiting longer than 18 months for an outpatient appointment or inpatient or daycase treatment. Yet the numbers of long waiters continued to grow through the year, and by June 3rd last over 33,000 patients were waiting for an outpatient appointment for over 18 months.

By June 30th, however, this figure had dropped to under 2,000 as Mr Varadkar claimed 99.6 per cent achievement of his target. Most of those removed from the list last month have not seen a doctor but the HSE says appointments have been scheduled for them.

Two years ago, a similar effort was made to clear massive outpatient waiting lists by outsourcing work to the private sector. Many patients ended up being referred back into the public system and back onto the waiting list, but at the end of it. This lead to accusations, denied by the HSE, that the waiting list was being manipulated.

The current initiative provides for a full package of care for patients, including an initial outpatient appointment, diagnostic tests where required and follow on procedures, according to the HSE.

“It is inevitable that some patients may either elect to remain in the public system or where their care requirements cannot be fully met in the private system. In such cases patients will keep their original place on the public waiting list,” a spokeswoman said.

Among the patients covered in the initiative will be those needing treatment in orthopaedics, dermatology, respiratory conditions and ear, nose and throat.