Health Minister to unveil plan to tackle lengthy waiting lists

New figures presented at the Oireachtas health committee indicate that well over one million people are on waiting lists

Figures show 225,000 people are waiting for community services, including mental health and occupational therapy. File photo

The Health Minister has defended the Sláintecare reform programme as "making huge progress" despite spiralling waiting lists.

Stephen Donnelly also told the Oireachtas health committee that current waiting lists are not acceptable and that he will, on Friday, launch a plan to tackle these. Some €350m was set aside in last year's Budget for this purpose.

The crisis in waiting lists was raised by Sinn Féin health spokesman David Cullinane, who presented new figures that show 225,000 people waiting for community services, including mental health and occupational therapy.

Combined with hospital waiting lists of over 880,000, this indicates well over one million people are on waiting lists, with a further 226,000 on lists for diagnostic scans, Mr Cullinane said.

In response, Mr Donnelly said “the situation isn’t acceptable". He also said 138,000 radiology scans were done last year through a pandemic scheme allowing GPs to directly refer their patients to private hospitals instead of waiting.

But despite this pressure, Mr Donnelly moved to defend the proposed reform of the Irish healthcare system, Sláintecare. He said progress is being made under the initiative.

Referring to plans to make healthcare free at the point of access, Mr Donnelly said: 

We are absolutely focused and committed to the mission which is universal healthcare.

Mr Donnelly told the committee out of a plan to hire over 14,500 HSE staff last year, 6,149 were recruited which he agreed “fell far short”. This year’s target is 10,000 but the HSE has already said 5,500 is more achievable, he said.

Focusing on the issue of staff shortages, Mr Donnelly told the committee he met with emergency department consultants in University Hospital Limerick last week. There are eight such doctors working there and one told the minister that their workload would be handled by 20 consultants at a similar-sized hospital in Australia.

Mr Donnelly said over €800m is set aside for “additional capacity and reform” including money unspent last year due to the pandemic.

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They plan to also fund “over 300 additional acute beds and three million additional home care hours,” he said. Enhanced community care teams are also being recruited to offer more care outside of hospitals.

Social Democrats health spokesperson Roisin Shortall asked the minister whether financial accountability needs to be addressed in light of recent reports of division between the HSE and Department of Health on this.

“The prior year adjustment was not hundreds of millions as was reported,” he said. “The latest estimate shows it will be below €100m and it is an accounting correction that is done every year because of cash vs accrual.”