Elderly waiting three years for orthopaedic care

HUNDREDS of elderly orthopaedic patients are being forced to wait as long as three years to be treated at one of the country’s leading hospitals.

The HSE has confirmed a shocking 791 people — the vast majority of them elderly — have been told they cannot be seen by a doctor at Cork University Hospital (CUH) until at least January 2013, with 92 facing waits well into 2014.

Figures released at the latest HSE South regional health forum show 4,321 people are currently on outpatient orthopaedic waiting lists at the major Munster facility and St Mary’s Orthopaedic Hospital (SMOH).