FG: Tralee waiting lists ‘completely unacceptable’

SOME people on waiting lists for appointments at Kerry General Hospital (KGH), Tralee, could be dead before they are called to see a consultant, it was claimed yesterday.

It has emerged that some patients have been waiting to see a rheumatology consultant at the hospital for seven and a half years, among the longest waiting periods on record.

Other patients have been waiting for more than four years for an appointment to see an ear, nose and throat consultant at the same hospital. Fine Gael health spokesman Dr James Reilly said the situation was “completely unacceptable”, adding some of the people waiting could be dead by the time they were given appointments. He also said many patients would have been forced to opt for private health care in order to have their medical conditions dealt with.

The HSE said yesterday the majority of routine GP referrals for outpatient consultation at KGH did not experience lengthy delays in receiving an appointment.

However, the longest delays were being recorded at present in the neurology, rheumatology and ear, nose and throat specialities. KGH general manager Margie Lynch said the hospital had a referral system for cases waiting for lengthy periods for routine appointments. A letter was forwarded to the consultant in question and the case was reviewed on the basis of clinical urgency.

“If the condition of the patient deteriorates, it is advised that the patient contact their GP with view to obtaining updated referrals for review by the consultant,” she said. Ms Lynch also said KGH was working successfully with the National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF) — under which public patients on a public hospital waiting list for a certain period can get their treatment done privately, for free — to minimise waiting times.

Last year, a total of 545 patients at the hospital were referred for earlier outpatient appointments through the NTPF, including patients in the areas of rheumatology, neurology, ear, nose and throat, orthopaedics, gynaecology and general surgery. “The [NTPF] scheme has worked very well to date and we continually look to expand existing capacity levels and introduce new areas of treatment into the scheme in 2008,” said Ms Lynch.

A Patient Focus spokesperson called for an investigation into lengthy waiting periods at KGH and other hospitals, saying there was no excuse for having someone on a waiting list for more than seven years.