Billy Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The key recommendations are the important points in this report. Having unearthed what it did we need to address that. The heading "Date captures along the patient journey" is critically important. Under "Direct referral/direct listing of patients onto an inpatient and day case waiting list" it states: "The current pathways for managing patients who are 'direct' listed either as a result of a 'direct' referral from another hospital consultant, community physician or having been seen by the 'listing' consultant elsewhere should be reviewed by all hospitals." That must be carried out immediately. As a Deputy the Minister of State knows that when clinicians write "urgent" on a list it is meaningless. I know of people being marked "urgent" for a hip or knee replacement who have to drag themselves around their kitchens and put rails in their houses so they can move around them. There have been amazing instances of people being referred as "urgent" by their physician or their general practitioner which the system parks on a waiting list like any other. We are debasing the word "urgent". More important, we are debasing the patients who need this urgent treatment or diagnosis. "Clinical Prioritisation" is recommendation No. 3: "All hospitals should review their systems tracking capability to ensure that revisions to clinical priority are clearly documented and are visible from a waiting list management perspective." That is a fundamentally important recommendation in this report, that they be clearly visible so the system will highlight clinical priorities which are deemed urgent, and that clinically urgent requirements do not get lost in a black hole. I urge that this recommendation be prioritised.

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