Surgery waiting list almost 5,000 strong

There are almost 5,000 patients on surgery waiting lists at seven of the country’s major hospitals, it emerged today.

The new Patient Treatment Register (PTR) also showed that 1,000 of these have been waiting for over 12 months.

Health Minister Mary Harney said the overall number of people waiting for surgery has steadily decreased from 39,000 in the 1990s to around 10,000 people now.

The register also shows that there were 4,944 patients waiting for a surgery at six Dublin hospitals and one in Limerick.

The National Treatment Purchase Fund, which is responsible for operating the new register, said waiting times have significantly reduced in the seven hospitals on the register.

“Patients are waiting two to four months for the most common surgical procedures,” a spokesperson said.

The new register will provide patients and GPs with website access to live waiting list data.

Patients referred for treatment by a consultant will be placed on the register and also given a treatment card so their exact waiting time can be tracked.

Hospitals listed on the register include the Mater, Tallaght, Beaumont, St James’s, St Vincent’s, Connolly Memorial in Blanchardstown and St John’s in Limerick.

Ms Harney said: “The Patient Treatment Register is a new way of putting patients first in the way we provide elective treatments in our hospitals.

“People will have better information and choice about their treatment.

“With their GPs, they will have a stronger role in decisions about their own treatment. The NTPF will be proactive in contacting patients to offer treatment options.

“We will also now be able to measure progress in getting waiting times down, which is the aim of Government policy and what patients want. This a practical example of a patient-centred service.”

National Treatment Purchase Fund chairperson Ms Maureen Lynott, said: “We now have a new register which is accessible, informative, accurate, standardised and most of all empowers patients.”

“The system is being rolled out nationally with hospitals around the country progressively being brought on to the register online. The PTR report will be published twice annually.”