Patients facing six-year hospital wait

Patients are having to wait for up to six years to see a consultant at an outpatient clinic in some major public hospitals, according to new figures.

Latest figures from the HSE show that the routine waiting time for an ear, nose and throat (ENT) outpatient appointment at Kerry General Hospital, Tralee, is currently 2,248 days, just over six years.

At Limerick Regional Hospital, patients have to wait three years (1,105 days) for an ENT outpatient appointment.

There are particularly long waits too in Co Louth Hospitals, where patients must wait nearly three years (1,032 days) for an orthopaedic appointment at Dundalk Hospital, and two-and-a-half years (912 days) for an ophthalmology appointment at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda.

Other long waits include nearly three years (993 days) for an orthopaedic outpatient appointment at Tallaght Hospital in Dublin and nearly two-and-a half years (888 days) for an ENT appointment at University Hospital, Galway.

Patients have to wait one-and-a-half years (570 days) for an orthopaedic clinic appointment at Beaumont Hospital in Dublin. At Connolly Hospital in Dublin, there is a 600 day (just over one-and-a-half-years) wait  for an ophthalmology clinic visit.

The figures, which look at routine waiting times, show that outpatient waiting times are generally longer in hospitals outside Cork and Dublin.

The specialties showing the longest waiting times are in orthopaedics, ENT and ophthalmology, according to the report. Some hospitals too have long waiting times for general surgery clinic appointments.

The HSE statistics, which cover 28 major hospitals around the country, deal with routine waiting times for paediatrics, ENT, ophthalmology, orthopaedics, general medicine and general surgery, and also give overall waiting time figures.

The hospital with the highest overall average waiting time among different specialties for an appointment in an outpatient clinic is Limerick Regional, where patients must wait an average of 592 days, over 18 months, for an appointment.

The second highest overall appointment waiting time is at University Hospital Galway, with a 420 day wait overall, while Waterford Regional is in third place at 342 days.

The highest overall waiting time for an outpatient visit among the major Dublin hospitals is recorded by Tallaght Hospital, at 243 days, while the lowest in Dublin is at St Vincent's at 48 days, which has the lowest overall outpatient wait in the country, apart from at the Mercy Hospital Cork, where it is only 26 days.

The following, based on HSE statistics extrapolated from its HealthStat figures for selected major hospitals and provided to irishhealth.com, are the outpatient waiting time figures (in number of days) in some of the major hospitals:

*AMNCH (Tallaght) - Overall - 243. Longest wait- Orthopaedics (993)

*Beaumont - Overall - 182. Longest wait - Orthopaedics (570).

*Connolly - Overall - 128. Longest wait - Ophthalmology  (600).

*Cork University Hospital - Overall - 111. Longest wait - Ophthalmology (184).

*University Hospital, Galway - Overall - 420. Longest wait - ENT (888).

*Mater - Overall - 79. Longest wait - Orthopaedics (174).

*Limerick Regional - Overall - 592. Longest wait - ENT (1,105).

*Midland Regional, Portlaoise - Overall - 268. Longest wait - General Surgery (645).

*St James's - Overall - 120. Longest wait ENT (228).

*St Vincent's - Overall - 48. Longest wait - ENT (75).

*Waterford Regional - Overall - 342. Longest wait - ENT (790).

*Kerry General, Tralee - Overall 323. Longest wait - ENT (2,248).

*Louth County Hospital, Dundalk - Overall 225. Longest wait - Orthopaedics (1,032)

*Our Lady of Lourdes, Drogheda - Overall 151. Longest wait - Ophthalmology (912)

*Wexford General - Overall - 122. Longest wait - General Surgery (200).

[Posted: Tue 21/07/2009]