Hospital waiting lists have fallen by 11 per cent to 26,345 people in the last 12 months, and by up to a third in a number of health board areas, the Minister for Health, Mr Martin, said last night.
The reductions in a number of areas targeted by the Department of Health since September 2000 are even more dramatic, particularly in cardiac surgery, where queues are down by 61 per cent, and ear, nose and throat, which is down by 30 per cent, according to Mr Martin. However, the figures have been questioned by Fine Gael.
The number of children waiting more than six months for key specialities is down by 8 per cent, while the number of adults waiting more than 12 months has dropped by 17 per cent in the 12 months to September.
"Significant reductions have been achieved in some health board areas over the year. The Southern Health Board is down 32 per cent, the South-Eastern Health Board 29 per cent, Midland Health Board 26 per cent and the North-Western Health Board is down 23 per cent," the Department of Health said last night.
Provisional figures for the first nine months of 2001 indicate that 920,000 people will be treated as in-patients this year - an increase of 50,000 on 2000.
"The number of people currently on hospital in-patient waiting lists represents less than 3 per cent of all in-patient discharges," said the Department.
Under the Health Strategy, patients left waiting for more than three months will be treated privately, or offered treatments abroad under the Treatment Purchase Fund.
"I am confident that the measures announced in this strategy will have a significant effect on waiting lists and will ensure a more accessible and equitable service for all public patients," said the Minister.
However, Fine Gael health spokesman Mr Gay Mitchell raised suspicions about the accuracy of the Department's figures and demanded they be verified by an independent agency.
"There is reasonable suspicion that statistics here are inaccurate and are being massaged downwards. With less than six months to a general election the Irish public need the safeguard of a watchdog to ensure that fiddling of hospital waiting lists does not take place. The Comptroller and Auditor General, as the national audit office does in Britain, could independently verify that there is no manipulation of hospital waiting lists. Distorting lists will simply leave patients angry and frustrated because of the huge gap between their own personal experience of the health services and the cynical spin being peddled.
"There should be a particular examination of the so-called 'verification' process, which reduces waiting list numbers if people do not reply to hospital circulars even though in most cases they are still in need of treatment," he said.
According to the figures, 299 people were awaiting heart operations throughout the country in September, which is a drop of 465 on the year. The pace of operations is also speeding up, since 121 people were treated between June and September.
The numbers needing ear, nose and throat treatments, which stood at 6,712 in September 2000, have fallen to 4,703, while dental patient numbers have dropped from 455 to 191 during the year.
However, the numbers in some specialities have begun to rise again. The number of patients with serious respiratory problems has risen from 160 to 189 nationally.
