One person in every six in Clare is awaiting an outpatient appointment in hospital.
Waiting lists have spiralled over the past year, as a large number of appointments have been deferred, meaning there are now nearly over 700,000 people waiting for either an inpatient or outpatient appointment.
Health Minister Stephen Donnelly has told the Dáil that 16,311 people from Clare are waiting for to be seen by a consultant.
A further 3,671 people are waiting for an inpatient or day case appointment, bringing the total number across both lists to just under 20,000.
It’s the first time such a figure has been revealed, but the numbers waiting to be seen in hospitals has soared over the past year, with the COVID-enforced cancellation and deferral of appointments and procedures a major contributory factor.
The total number waiting for an inpatient procedure in of the UL Group of Hospitals has increased by nearly 50% in the year to February, with over 7,000 people now in the queue.
The numbers waiting for outpatient appointments has incresased by almost 9,000 to just under 56,000.
This time last year, there were 79 people waiting at least a year and a half for a procedure across the Group – that number has now increased more than tenfold to 828.
The UL Hospitals Group has told Clare Fm that it’s filled 15 new consultant posts in the past six months, and that’s been approved to appoint 32 more consultants, and that over 700 of its planned procedures have been carried out in private hospitals as part of an agreement with them.
UL Hospitals Group Statement
In terms of addressing hospital waiting lists, it should be noted that public healthcare in this country has not escaped the utter transformation of how life is lived and public services are provided during the pandemic.
In addition to the distancing and hand hygiene measures that, prior to the commencement of vaccination, had been our only defence against COVID-19, public hospitals have curtailed, postponed and rescheduled services throughout the pandemic in order to ensure that time-critical hospital care could be provided for the sickest and most vulnerable of our patients.
The increase in waiting lists shows that such curtailment is not sustainable indefinitely. UL Hospitals Group was glad last week to announce the beginning of a scaling up of scheduled care services, following our most recent deferral of services in response to the significant COVID-19 surge of early 2021.
It is envisaged that outpatient services in Ennis and Nenagh will restart in the next few weeks. Restoration of services will continue across the Group, subject to public health advice, at a gradual, slow and steady pace. The health system, like the country, remains in recovery, and at every step, the most time-critical and urgent cases will be prioritised.
Management has been focused on our inpatient and outpatient waiting lists throughout the pandemic, and devising means of minimising the inconvenience that our patients and their loved ones have experienced these past 12 months. Executive Oversight Meetings are held every week in order to review our waiting lists.
Over the past six months, UL Hospitals Group has secured the appointment of 15 new consultant posts in the areas of Endocrinology, Anaesthesiology, Radiology, Paediatrics, Medicine, Surgery and Trauma & Orthopaedics.
The Group has also been approved for the appointment of a further 32 new Consultant posts by the HSE to support our new developments on site.
We are currently progressing with these through the regulatory framework process with the Consultants Application Advisory Committee (CAAC), and we anticipate that many of these posts will be advertised for filling in the coming months.
Under the recently agreed Private Hospital Safety Net Service Agreement, UL Hospitals Group has undertaken a thorough review of urgent surgical and medical waiting lists, and referred in excess of 700 procedures to a number of private hospitals. It is anticipated that this activity will continue under the national agreement, which has a term of 12 months.
UL Hospitals Group is also discussing several initiatives with the National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF), and wherever possible, virtual clinics are being used across our services, as a means of identifying patients who can be progressed whether for diagnostic imaging, minor procedures, or full episodes of care.
