This article is from page 5 of the 2008-01-08 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 5 JPG
, the HSE was unable to say which specialist pa- tients in Ennis were waiting to see.
Meanwhile, the National Treatment Purchase Fund, which has helped to reduce the surgical waiting lists, only applies to people who have been seen by aconsultant and are scheduled for treatment or an operation.
The real wait for patients now 1s to see the consultant.
While those close to the hospital services in the region say that an audit of the waiting list is long over- due as many patients may have died or received treatment elsewhere, the wait is still highly criticised.
Fine Gael spokesperson on health Dr James Reilly, said he would be in- terested in knowing how many peo- ple have literally died waiting.
While Ennis hospital has recorded its longest waiting period as four
and a half years, the Mid Western Regional Hospital in Dooradoyle has a waiting list of three years with 13,074 people waiting.
Neighbouring hospital at Portiun- cula has a waiting list of more than four years, while patients have been waiting to be seen at Galway’s two main hospitals since 2000. A total of 18,206 people have been waiting.
These startling figures were re- leased in the same week that top acci- dent and emrgency doctors criticised HSE CEO Prof Brendan Drumm of having “limited experience” in emer- gency medicine and medical care.
The A and E specialists predicted that at least 360 people will lose their lives as a result of A and E over- crowding this year.
The president of the Irish Associa- tion of Emergency Medicine Dr Fer- gal Hickey called on the HSE to fol- low the UK example and introduce a mandatory waiting time for A and E beyond which patients would not have to wait.
A major report into the A and E cri- sis had previously recommended that a limit be imposed on patient wait- ing times in A and E departments nationally.
An analysis of the HSE national figures by emergency consultant Mr Patrick Plunkett found patient delays in A and E had become worse in re- cent months however.