James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

As I indicated in response to a previous question, we have only begun to get a handle on outpatient waiting times. A major difficulty in this regard is that the relevant statistics were never accurately counted in the past. The validation of all outpatient waiting lists commenced in June 2012. In respect of regional ear, nose and throat, ENT, services, GP referrals from the five south-eastern counties are received at Waterford Regional Hospital and patients are seen either at that hospital or at hospital and community clinics across the south east. Prior to the validation process, there were 8,319 patients on the outpatient waiting list, which now stands at 4,570. Of these, 2,337 have been one the list for up to one year, 1,179 for one to two years; 769 for two to three years, and 285 for three to four years. The figures are not broken down to show how many of the patients are children.

Although I covered this issue in an earlier question, I would like to make some comments from my own practice experience over the years. In regard to tonsillectomies, the first point to make is that the thinking around this procedure is changing. Second, my experience as a GP was that where I referred a child with tonsillitis symptoms to a paediatrician for assessment, eight times out of ten that child would not be referred for a tonsillectomy. On the other hand, if I sent the child to the surgical service, the old maxim, "If in doubt, whip it out" seemed to apply. My point is that we need to review this whole area of treatment, a task that is currently being undertaken in a major way in the United Kingdom.

That being said, the figures I have given for outpatient waiting times are clearly unacceptable. Our focus in this regard will be to deal in the first instance with those patients who have been waiting longest, as we did in respect of inpatient procedures. Our target is that by the end of next year, nobody will be waiting longer than one year. If we can ensure that patients are seen by the right people, in the right place and at the right time, many of these referrals might not be necessary.

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