Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The question that has been raised here, and it is a national issue really, is about the fact we do the preliminary assessment and then the patient or child comes off the waiting list. What is the waiting list used for? I read an interesting thing in the FUSS report from a member of staff regarding when they are asked to produce numbers. They said there was an "Apparent lack of awareness or insight into how bad things actually are on the ground, e.g constantly seeking figures and KPIs - for what? What is happening with the waitlist figures we send? What is happening with the risks we are highlighting?" The kernel of the question is about the numbers we have on the waiting lists. Do those numbers exclude the people who have had a preliminary assessment? If so, that preliminary assessment is of no use because they do not actually get to an assessment they require. Lots of parents feel this is a box-ticking exercise. They bring in somebody, introduce them and let them out so that person is off the list now.

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