FORTY eight children are waiting over 12 months for an outpatient appointment with a consultant at the Paediatric Unit of University Hospital Limerick, new figures have revealed.
An analysis of the latest waiting list figures published by the National Treatment Purchase Fund for January shows that 67 children are waiting for an appointment — six of them for more than 18 months.
Fianna Fáil TD for Limerick City, Willie O’Dea, says he is shocked by the latest figures.
“The number of children being forced to wait for months on end for what should be routine appointments is truly shocking. This is particularly shameful given that Taoiseach Leo Varadkar during his time as Health Minister pledged that no-one, adult or child, would be waiting more than 18 months by the end of June 2015,” Deputy O’Dea declared.
“This government and the last have consistently failed to deliver on outpatient waiting times and have consistently failed to meet their own targets. This failure has real human consequences. Children should not be forced to endure such long waits and 12 months is a long time in a child’s life. Nor too should we forget the stress and concern that this causes so many parents.”
A response from UL Hospitals stated: “During 2017, there was an increase in the number of outpatients waiting for an appointment at UL Hospitals Group. Among the reasons for the increase is the significant growth in demand; an increase in the number of urgent referrals in some specialties and a shortage of consultants in others. Addressing the shortage of these senior clinical decision makers in the key specialties concerned will continue to be addressed by the Group in 2018.
‘In 2018, a particular focus is being placed on the validation of paediatric outpatient waiting lists in line with national plans to tackle wait times for patients. We expect that this will result in a significant reduction in the number of patients, particularly those who are waiting the longest; who account for six per cent of all paediatric patients on the waiting list.
As part of the validation process, hospitals will be contacting all patients waiting more than six months to see if they wish to remain on the waiting list, to ensure existing resources are optimised and that we improve overall access times for patients.”
by Alan Jacques
