€172m spent but hospital waiting list continues to grow

THE Government has seen waiting list figures grow instead of decrease despite having spent €172m on the problem.

Breaking a key election promise to cut waiting times, the Government finally revealed the latest figures yesterday five months after they were due.

The figures show Health Minister Micheál Martin has failed to fulfil his pre-election promise that, by the end of 2002, no adult would wait longer than 12 months and no child longer than six months for hospital treatment.

According to yesterday's figures, more than 5,000 adults and 1,000 children are awaiting treatment for more than a year and more than six months, respectively.

This is despite an investment of €172m since 1998 money specifically targeted at cutting waiting lists. The new figures also give the lie to Fianna Fáil's election pledge to end waiting lists. A week before the general election, Fianna Fáil said in their health policy statement: "we will reduce and then permanently end waiting lists."

Although the in-patient figures (involving at least one overnight stay) for the last quarter of 2002 are down by 846 on the previous quarter, the waiting list for day cases is up by 689. The overall waiting list figure, combining day and inpatient cases, is 29,017 up from 26,382 in 2001.

Despite the Government spending €4 billion more on health in 2002 compared to 2001, the health service continues to lurch from one crisis to another.

Industrial relations problems in the sector were heightened last night with news that the Irish Medical Organisation is to ballot its GP members to step up action in support of striking public health doctors. The IMO, which represents more than 5,700 GPs, also passed a motion of no confidence in the Health Service Employers Agency.

Meanwhile, Fine Gael health spokeswoman Olivia Mitchell said the waiting lists were irrelevant, coming five months late and not taking into account the impact of hundreds of recent bed closures. Labour health spokeswoman Liz McManus said the rate of decrease in waiting lists was so paltry, that it would be 25 years before they were eliminated.

Meanwhile, Mr Martin praised the role of the National Treatment Purchase Fund in helping cut waiting list figures, treating 4,200 patients and removing a further 1,800 from lists because they either no longer wanted or needed treatment.