Colm Keaveney (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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Mr. Tony O'Brien recently expressed some surprise at and challenged the perception that there was manipulation of outpatient appointment waiting lists. He challenged the notion that people suffering chronic pain were being written to on the closure of outpatient appointment waiting lists. In fact, the Minister himself challenged The Sunday Business Poston the affirmation that sick people were being written to across the State positively confirming that there were no referrals being accepted across many of the pain clinics and other specialties in our hospitals. I have collated hundreds of letters from sick people who have received correspondence to say that as a consequence of resources, no new referrals onto waiting lists for outpatient appointments are being accepted. One of those letters concerns a referral to a pain clinic in Dublin. The letter states that as a consequence of the lack of resources, the clinic will not accept any new referrals onto outpatient appointment waiting lists. I have a catalogue of correspondence to people, families and GPs expressing concern with respect to the stockpiling of sick people who cannot get onto a waiting list. I would like Mr. O'Brien to comment on the status of people who are not on a waiting list for urgent attention for pain relief or in respect of other disciplines. They are not showing up in the statistics.