Decline in numbers on waiting lists

The number of people waiting longer than 12 months for hospital procedures – the Government’s maximum waiting time – increased dramatically in the early part of the year but is now falling back again, new official figures show.

The Department of Health said today that at the end of last week there were 556 patients – adults and children -- who were waiting longer than 12 months for either day case or an in-patient procedures in hospitals.

This is down substantially on the figures recorded for the end of February but still significantly ahead of the position at the end of December.

The Department of Health attributed the reduction in the numbers waiting longer than 12 months for procedures in recent weeks on the introduction of a new regime of fines for hospitals which were in breach of official targets.

Under this system hospitals with patients who are waiting longer than 12 months for procedures will face a €25,000 per month fine for each case. Alternatively they will have to pay the full cost of having the patient treated in another centre along with a 100 per cent penalty.

At the end of December the number of patients waiting longer than 12 months stood at 372 – all of whom were awaiting treatment in Galway University Hospital or Merlin Park Hospital.

However the official figures show there was a surge in the numbers waiting longer than the official 12 –month target in the early months of the year.

The Department of Health figures show that at the end of January the number waiting for longer than 12 months for procedures had grown to 907.

At the end of February the numbers waiting longer than 12 months had surged again to 1,219.

The Department of Health said today that the breakdown of the 556 patients currently waiting longer than 12 months for procedures was: University College Hospital Galway 471, Cork (University Hospital) 56, Beaumont 20, Dooradoyle (Limerick) 3, Temple Street 1, Cappagh 1, Letterkenny 1, Mercy 1, Tullamore 1, and Our Lady of Lourdes Drogheda 1

The chief operating officer of the Department of Health’s special delivery unit Tony O’Brien said: "The evidence appears to support the notion that since the penalty regime was implemented hospitals have refocused their attention on chronological management of waiting list patients and that is the reason why we see the waiting list coming down."