Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank Sinn Féin for bringing forward this motion and giving me the opportunity to speak.

Despite all of the billions of euro spent year after year on the health service, the waiting list problem is getting worse. In a speech on the Appropriation Bill in December last, I highlighted the degree to which our spending on health has increased over the past six years. In 2016, it stood at €13.6 billion and in 2021, it was €21.7 billion, an increase of €8.1 billion in the period. I will ask the same question I asked in December. What do we really have to show for it? We have waiting lists getting longer, a crisis in the GP sector, orthodontic waiting lists that are off the charts, mental health services that are still understaffed and many other issues. The recent Business Postcoverage should also serve as an eye-opener to the horror of the waste that exists in the HSE. The health service is not being underfunded but funding is clearly not being used in the most efficient and effective way.

When it comes to agonising stories of waiting lists, I am sure every Deputy in the House has received a plea from a person on a waiting list asking if anything can be done to shorten his or her waiting time. In many cases, these are people with serious health issues who are often in serious and debilitating pain.

Some of the stories I have heard from constituents would create a sense of anger at the ordeal many of them are forced to endure when faced with illness. Only three months ago, the Wexford Peoplenewspaper carried the story of a woman who lodged an official complaint with the HSE after being told she would have to wait 15 months to explore a heart issue. This was not a 15-month wait for a complex operation but to be fitted with a heart monitor. It is 15 months of worry, anguish, anxiety and stress.

This time last year, it was reported that waiting lists in Wexford General Hospital had increased by 69% from January 2020 to January 2021. Wexford has been impacted hard by Covid-19. There was an obsession about Covid to the detriment of those who needed timely treatment for other issues. We do not yet have the true figures for the increased waiting times for the year from January 2021 to date.

The old saying, "A stitch in time saves nine", is apt when it comes to the importance of reducing and getting rid of waiting lists. People waiting for important treatment may develop other problems as a consequence of not receiving timely treatment for their initial ailment. From a health service point of view, surely it is more efficient to provide the first stitch when it is needed and not months, or even years, later.

The 2022 waiting list action plan aims to reduce the numbers on waiting lists from 720,000 to 587,000 but we need to focus efforts on prevention. Prevention starts by identifying how a country with a population of 5 million has ended up with 720,000 people on waiting lists.

We have two main issues, namely, human resources and physical resources. From a physical resources point of view, we obviously have a limited number of specialist theatres and limited equipment and space within the hospitals but from a human resources point of view, it is a clear case of too many chiefs and not enough Indians. There are umpteen positions currently advertised in the health service and I have almost lost count of the number of times I have raised issues with staffing levels in child and adolescent mental health services, CAMHS, in County Wexford. At the same time, we are constantly hearing about general understaffing within the health service.

With both of these resourcing issues, how have we suddenly arrived at a position where the Government can reduce waiting lists by 130,000 over the next ten months with current resources? If this is achievable, how did we end up with so many people on these waiting lists in the first place? I read with interest a few days ago an article in the Irish Independentunder the headline "€350m plan to tackle waiting lists as hospital theatres lie ‘idle’ after 5pm despite surgeons willing to operate". I am sure the vast majority of the 720,000 people on waiting lists would take an appointment at any time of the day or night to help solve their problem.

If this plan is successful in gradually reducing waiting lists, we need to ensure we do not return to this position in the next ten or 15 years. I hope the plan is successful and brings faster treatments for the thousands of people who badly need them. If not, it might be time to look at the top-heavy chiefs in the system, consider cancelling some of the wellness conference trips and get to work on dealing with the crisis.

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