Deputy Pearse Doherty has hit out at Government following the publication of the latest Outpatient Waiting List figures for Letterkenny University Hospital which reveal the number of patients awaiting treatment now stands at 15,326 – almost 20% higher than this time two years ago.
The figures, which are for August 2018 and were compiled by the National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF), also show that while a further 601 patients have been added to waiting lists since the start of the year.
The numbers who now been waiting 18 months or more for treatment, the longest waiting category, now stand at 2,562.
Deputy Doherty said this latest NTPF data into Outpatient waiting times at Letterkenny University Hospital makes for extremely disturbing reading to say the least.
“It figures show that the number of patients waiting for a first appointment at a consultant-led Outpatient clinic at the hospital across the various specialties now stands at 15,326.
“Compare this to August 2017 and we can see that there are over 1,400 more on outpatient lists today at the hospital.
“Moreover, compare these numbers to August 2016 when the number of patients on lists stood at 12,880 we see that the numbers are up by almost one fifth over the two years since.
“Similarly, if we examine the data in respect of the longest time band for treatment which is longer than 18 months, we too see some horrific statistics.
“Since January, the numbers within this category has gone up each month and now stands at 2,562 patients awaiting treatment.
“Again, if we compare this to two years ago we can see that back then there were just 870 patients who were waiting over 18 months to see a hospital consultant.
“We are effectively talking about an increase of 195% in two years of the numbers waiting the longest to access outpatient treatment – that is beyond justification.
“ “This is a very dangerous and frightening situation and the direction of travel here, where each month more and more patients are facing excessive waits to receive specialist treatment in Letterkenny hospital, highlights further a government which is completely devoid of answers as to how to tackle the crisis in our health service.
“And while nobody can argue that these figures are deeply alarming, our shared dismay pales in comparison to the human suffering which so many of those waiting on hospital waiting lists are going through as they wait to access services and treatment.
“As a public representative for the county, I intend to use my time in the Dáil to give a voice to all those suffering and waiting on treatment and I will be calling again on Government raise to intervene here because this situation cannot be allowed to continue indefinitely.
“Given that the Budget is now less than two weeks’ away, it’s incumbent on government to recognize that years of chronic underfunding in our health service have led to this crisis and to use the upcoming budget to make the necessary investment to address these problems which continue to plague the health system.”
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