Children's hospitals 'must work together to reduce op waiting'

Children’s hospitals must work together to reduce waiting lists for operations, Health Minister Mary Harney said today.

The National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF), which arranges private care for patients waiting more than three months on the public system, said the average waiting time has been reduced from up to five years in 2002 to ten weeks last year.

However the 2008 annual report said almost one-third of the 1,186 patients waiting for more than a year are children. Temple Street Children’s Hospital has 18% of the patients on its list while Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital in Crumlin has 12%.

Ms Harney said: “In relation to services for children, waiting times will be reduced by better co-operation and greater efficiency in the use of resources between Dublin hospitals providing specialist paediatric services.”

The Midwestern Regional Hospital in Limerick also accounted for 12% of the patients waiting over 12 months for treatment.

The NTPF’s €100m budget was cut by 10% this year but it said it still aims to treat 30,000 patients in 2009.

However chief executive Pat O’Byrne acknowledged waiting times may lengthen by several weeks as a result of the reduction in its funding.

“We will continue to work to lower the waiting times faced by public patients and achieve best value for money in negotiating with private hospitals.”

Ms Harney said she believed the NTPF was providing value for money.

“I don’t believe there is any hospital in the country that would have treated 36,000 patients last year for the budget that we give to the NTPF,” she said.

The annual report also found that 13,193 adults and children are currently waiting for more than three months for surgery across 44 hospitals.

Of these 7,080 are waiting between three and six months while 4,927 are waiting 6-12 months.

The NTPF’s helpline number received 26,565 enquiries in 2008, a 36% increase on the previous year.

Among the most common operations under the NTPF are for back problems and ear, nose and throat (ENT) disorders.