Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

One of the first things the Minister did on his appointment was to ask the House and everybody involved to debate a ten-year programme for the health system that would remove the political imperative from much of it. Last week, I spoke to Deputy Shortall and she asked me for another meeting, which we will hold in the next week or ten days.

The list system is nothing new. It has been in place since 2002 and the counting of the list has always been the same. It is nothing new under this or any previous Minister in the 15 years since it was established. A total of 70% of patients are seen within eight months. The Deputy's proposal for a single list may have merit. His spokesperson is on the committee dealing with a ten-year programme for the health system. It deserves some consideration. However, what we need is a system that does not change from month to month or year to year.

We have had a counting system since 2002 without changing it. The other elements, the pre-admittance and people who have had a procedure and who need to be called back for a second one, have never been counted as part of those lists, although they have been published on a monthly basis.

The new orthopaedic unit was completed in 2015. While it is in use, it has not added to capacity in Crumlin because of rolling closures. In that sense, two international nurses commenced in Crumlin in January. Two more are due to commence in March and a further 16 have been offered posts which allows the registration process to commence which can take four months. The adaptation programme used to be six weeks but has been reduced to two days, which is progress.

Every opportunity in recruitment and retention is followed through diligently, including working with the HSE and the international recruitment drive to support additional capacity at the hospital. As of 31 January, there were 193 patients awaiting spinal procedures in Crumlin, of which 143 were for new spinal fusions. On average there are additional 250 patients every year, 200 additional patients to Crumlin and 50 to Temple Street. The children’s hospital group has confirmed there were 133 spinal fusions for scoliosis conducted in 2016, of which 44 were carried out by the private sector.

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