It’s feared that long-term waits for hospital appointments in the MidWest will get much worse before it gets better.
Figures from the National Treatment Purchase Fund show that, at the end of April, more than 31,000 people awaiting an outpatient appointment at University Hospital Limerick.
An additional 2,800 were on the inpatient waiting list, while there was an overall rise of 63 percent in the number of people waiting over 18 months for both types of appointment.
Lahinch GP Dr Michael Kelleher has been telling Clare FM’s James Mulhall it’s putting a serious strain on patients who he refers to UHL, who are finding themselves waiting months:
Statement from the UL Hospitals Group:
Overall, there has been a 16% increase in the number of outpatients waiting for an appointment at UL Hospitals Group between April 2017 and April 2018. Among the reasons for this increase is the significant growth in demand; an increase in the number of urgent referrals in some specialties, such as ENT and Orthopaedics and a shortage of consultants in other specialties.
All patients who are waiting for appointments are prioritised according to clinical need with urgent cases being the highest priority. Beyond this, UL Hospitals Group will continue to focus on seeing and treating those who have been waiting the longest.
In 2018, a particular focus is being placed on the validation of outpatient waiting lists by UL Hospitals Group in line with national plans to address wait times for patients. As part of the validation process, we are currently contacting all patients waiting over 6 months to see if they wish to remain on the waiting list. The purpose of this exercise is to ensure that existing resources are optimised and that we improve overall access times for patients. We would expect to see an improvement in the number of patients waiting extended periods of time as a result of this exercise.
In the year from April 2017 to April 2018, the number of in-patients waiting for an appointment at UL Hospitals Group has increased by 267. In 2018, the HSE remains committed to reducing the number of patients waiting for hospital operations or procedures. In its recently published Action Plan, the HSE, Department of Health & the NTPF have committed to offering treatment to all patients who are for waiting more than 9 months for high volume procedures such as cataract operations and hip and knee replacements. UL Hospitals will be working with the HSE towards meeting this target.
It should be noted that during Storm Emma in the first week of March, all elective surgery was cancelled in the majority of cases across UL Hospitals Group to assist in the Emergency Planning during the severe weather, all appointments have since been rescheduled.
The HSE is also urging patients to let their hospital know as soon as possible if they cannot attend scheduled appointments so that other patients may be offered appointments.
