ALMOST 6,000 patients have been on a waiting list for more than three years to see a consultant at Croom Orthopaedic Hospital, new figures have revealed. Meanwhile, the Midwest Regional Hospital has the third highest rate of staff absenteeism in the country. Mary Fogarty, Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation, said that the “work environment at the Regional is not conducive to people who are not at the tip top of their health. “Work pressures make it difficult for someone deciding if they are well enough to be in work or to return,” she told the Limerick Post.
Upwards of 5,600 have waited more than three years just to see a consultant for an outpatient appointment at Croom.
The figures come from the HSE’s performance monitoring report, and they also show that the Regional Hospital has an annual absenteeism rate of 6.78%, with its sister hospital in Ennis, at 7.39%.
Hospitals in Munster were €40 million over budget half way through the year.
Staff sick time at the Regional Maternity was also running relatively high at 6.63%.
By contrast, staff absences at Croom Orthopaedic are just 2.05%, and at St John’s 2.31%.
There was no figure provided for what overspend the Midwest Regional hospital carried into 2012, but after the deadline for sending out bills in June, there was still €12.88 million owed.
Limerick Maternity has to collect €1.48 million in unpaid bills, St John’s has €2.38 million in outstanding fees and in Croom, €1.45 million remains unpaid.
The audit shows that the acute hospital in Dooradoyle had its budget cut by €14.87 million in 2012, and by June, had overspent on its current budget by €11.91 million.
Over 500 beds were closed there half way through this year, including four intensive care and six children’s beds. Croom’s overspend to July was €548,000 and their budget was cut last year by €740,000.
The Maternity Hospital had spent €2.25 million more than it should have by June, against a budget cutback in 2012 of €2.06 million .
St John’s had its budget cut by €1.78 million this year, and it had overspent by €1.52 million up to June.
The Croom waiting figures are the higher of the hospitals in Limerick with the Midwest Regional in Dooradoyle having 74 people waiting more than a year for an outpatient appointment.
St John’s has 76 patients waiting more than a year for similar appointments.
