Martin ‘unable to trace use of funds’

HEALTH Minister Micheál Martin has admitted difficulties in determining whether money allocated to reduce waiting lists actually went towards treating patients.

Last November the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG), John Purcell, released a report saying he was unable to determine if €246 million allotted to the Waiting List Initiative (WLI) since 1993 had resulted in any extra surgery.

Fianna Fáil TD Seán Fleming criticised Mr Purcell’s findings at a meeting of the Public Accounts Committee this week by accusing him of failing to establish if the WLI represented value for money.

However, Mr Martin conceded there were difficulties in finding out if extra procedures had been carried out particularly in the early years of the WLI.

“I acknowledge that there were difficulties in determining what extra procedures were carried out, particularly between 1993 and 1997, under the WLI. There is a difficulty in tracing the number of procedures that this money funded.

“But in more recent times, particularly from 1997-2003, there has been a dramatic increase in the number of procedures carried out. The number of day cases being treated is up by between 40-50%.”

Mr Martin’s claims were backed up by consultant cardiologist at Cork University Hospital, Dr William Fennell, who said the number of angiograms (x-rays of blood vessels) carried out in Munster had risen from 800 in 1994 to 5,000 today.

He said by-pass surgery had doubled between 1986 and 1996 and that angioplasties (surgical repair of a blood vessels) had risen from less than 100 from 10 years ago to “about 1,000” last year in Munster.

Mr Martin said he had plans to rectify the problems which had led to these difficulties over monies allocated under the WLI.

He admitted that a lot of the money had been spent on temporary consultant posts.

“There was implicit criticism of this in the [CAG] report but you can’t do operations without the consultants to do them,” he said.

This year the minister has set aside €22.8 million for the conversion of temporary consultant posts to permanent posts. The money will be allocated to the health boards for the first time, rather than provided by the WLI on a one-off basis. Funding to tackle waiting lists has not yet been announced. However, it is expected to be channelled through the National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF).

Speaking in Cork yesterday the minister said they will shortly reach the 10,000 mark in the treatment of patients under the NTPF.