Fund rejects consultants’ stance on waiting list

CLAIMS by hospital consultants that they are not to blame for patients waiting needlessly for surgical procedures were rejected yesterday by the National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF).

NTPF chief executive Pat O’Byrne said it was still his contention that some consultants were not co-operating with the fund.

“I am sticking with what I said at the launch of our report. The success of the scheme depends on the co-operation we get from hospitals and consultants,” he said.

The Irish Hospital Consultants Association (IHCA) said it was “entirely untrue” for Mr O’Byrne to state that consultants were not referring patients to the scheme.

At the launch of the NTPF’s 2005 report earlier this week Mr O’Byrne had expressed disappointment at the number of referrals from Cork University Hospital (CUH), Sligo General Hospital and Beaumont Hospital in Dublin.

Mr O’Byrne said a small number of consultants in those hospitals were not referring patients to the scheme.

IHCA deputy secretary general Donal Duffy said the three hospitals had nominated staff members who liaised with the fund.

“It is therefore entirely untrue for the chief executive officer of the fund to state that consultants in these hospitals are not referring patients to the scheme,” he said.

Mr Duffy also claimed there was no hospital or consultant involvement once patients had been placed on a waiting list.

“If the NTPF have concerns about obstruction in this scheme they should look to their own management rather than to hospitals or consultants,” he said.

Mr Duffy said it was surprising and disappointing that Mr O’Byrne did not seem to be aware how his fund worked.

Mr O’Byrne said the NTPF did not manage hospital waiting lists — that was a matter for the hospitals and the consultants. “There are consultants with whom we do have referral problems,” he said.

He rejected the argument put forward by CUH that some cases were too complex to refer to the fund. “I don’t accept that there are more complex cases in Cork than anywhere else,” he said.

Tánaiste and Minister for Health, Mary Harney, said there was a need to identify the consultants and the hospitals they worked in. “It may well be that the fund could liaise more closely with GPs in the future,” she said.