Joan Collins (Dublin South Central, United Left) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for his reply. I am sure people who are awaiting hip and knee surgery will welcome additional resources being made available. This matter comes down to the number of nurses and consultants available to carry out procedures. If sufficient staff are available, this ensures that referrals can be made and admissions facilitated as quickly as possible. It is a terrible tragedy that consultants are informing patients that they should contact their local Deputies for assistance if they are having difficulty in the context of waiting lists. That should not be the case. The HSE should be able to identify where problems exist and then, as the Minister indicated, it should be in a position to try to address them by putting the necessary resources in place. I welcome the fact that the latter is now happening. Steps should be taken to ensure that waiting lists are checked every two months in order to gauge the level of movement relating to them.

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