This article is from page 9 of the 2007-05-22 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 9 JPG
A TOTAL of 578 patients from County Clare have been treated un- der the National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF) since 2002.
The NTPF has arranged treat- ment for more than 75,000 people nationwide since it was established, including just over 115 people from OA a aero
According to its annual report launched this week, the average waiting times for the most common surgical procedures are two to five months, in comparison with waiting times of two to five years in 2002.
Since its establishment, the NTPF has provided operations in every specialty area, with the largest number of 9,536 in the ear, nose and throat category.
This is followed by ophthalmology
with 8,481 operations and general surgery with 8,064 operations.
The most common procedures in 2006 included hip and knee replace- ments, cataract surgery and tonsil extraction.
The number of patients calling the NTPF’s lo-call number 1890 720820 more than doubled to 20,000 en- quiries in 2006, showing a growing awareness of the fund’s work and greater empowerment of patients to self-refer.
Speaking at the report launch, NTPF Chief Executive Pat O’Byrne said, “Our message to patients is simple — there really is no reason to wait a long time for an operation.
“Anyone who has been waiting longer than three months for an in- patient operation can contact us d1- rectly and in most cases treatment can be arranged within weeks.”