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“A patient’s access to care should not depend on where they live”, warns IHCA

Wide disparities found across hospital waiting lists in “postcode lottery”. As patients in Waterford, Limerick, Galway and parts of Cork in addition to Dublin face longest waiting times found IHCA.

  • Hospitals in Cork South-Central, Limerick City and Dublin Central have highest outpatient waiting lists. It is therefore up to four times the national average;
  • Analysis comes as over 893,000 people are on some form of NTPF waiting list. This is also including almost 98,000 children. It is an overall increase of 30,000 in the past year;
  • Therefore urgent action is needed to address public hospital capacity deficits and Consultant vacancies.

IHCA President Prof Alan Irvine said:

“These shocking figures should be a wake-up call to Government. They need to urgently address the twin deficits of a shortage of Consultants as well as the lack of sufficient public hospital capacity to resolve the record waiting lists we continue to experience. Therefore, a patient’s access to care should not depend on where they live. The Government needs to address this ‘postcode lottery’ and realise that any waiting list plan which does not simultaneously address the Consultant recruitment and retention crisis is destined to fail. Our patients deserve better.”

Patients waiting to be assessed by a hospital Consultant face little short of a postcode lottery. This is also with dramatic variations in outpatient waiting lists across the country, which new analysis has revealed.

The Irish Hospital Consultants Association (IHCA) has found wide disparities between outpatient waiting lists at different hospitals. When examined on a population basis, some hospitals in South and West have waiting lists 20-times greater than others.

Nationally, around one in eight people are currently on a hospital outpatient waiting list. However, new analysis by the IHCA suggests this can be a much higher rate in some areas. This is also as Consultants warn that timely access to healthcare should not be determined by a person’s address.

The warning comes as the latest National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF) figures released today. They confirm there are therefore, 893,043 people on some form of hospital waiting list. This is also including 97,954 children. This is an increase of 30,323 in the past year, or around 83 people added to public hospital waiting lists every single day since January 2021.

However, an analysis of outpatient waiting lists per hospital**, reveals some stark geographical disparities.

Therefore the six constituencies with the largest waiting lists are:

Constituency  Hospitals Outpatient Waiting Lists Jan 2022 Patients waiting as a % of local population (per 100,000)
Cork South-Central Cork University Hospital, Cork University Maternity Hospital, Mercy Hospital, South Infirmary 70,862 58% (57,962)
Limerick City University Hospital Limerick, St John’s Hospital 47,555 42% (41,928)
Dublin Central Mater Hospital, Rotunda 44,956 40% (39,517)
Galway West Galway University Hospitals 56,916 39% (39,276)
Waterford University Hospital Waterford 43,002 37% (37,015)
Dublin Bay South St Vincent’s University Hospital, Royal Victoria Eye & Ear 41,655 34% (34,376)
Total 304,946  42% (41,676)

 

However, the IHCA said that this analysis does not take into account the fact that many of the larger hospitals provide specialty services to an even wider population than those directly in the area: for example in such treatment areas as cancer, cardiology, gynaecology, ophthalmology, orthopaedics, neurology or surgery.

Consultants say that the limitations of the NTPF data means a clear and accurate picture of patients waiting for appointments and treatment at each of Ireland’s hospitals is almost impossible to derive.

While outpatient waiting lists at 625,513 have increased by 2,500 compared to this time last year, the increases are far greater in other lists for planned procedures, pre-admissions and inpatient and outpatient suspensions maintained by the NTPF but not widely publicised. These lists increased by more than 32,000 (25%) since January 2021 and now total 161,246.

Consultants have renewed their call on Government to effectively address the record hospital waiting lists by ending the discrimination introduced in 2012 against Consultants appointed after that date, thereby increasing staffing levels and providing the health service with the ability to deliver timely access to essential care for Ireland’s patients.

Commenting on today’s NTPF figures, IHCA President Professor Alan Irvine, said:

“The analysis of individual hospital waiting lists today paint a very stark picture for many people who now face longer waits just because of their address.

“The fact that the number of people waiting to be assessed by a hospital Consultant at the four hospitals in Cork South-Central is equivalent to more than half the local population is shocking; especially when compared to the overall figure of 13% of the national population who are on an outpatient waiting list.

“A patient’s access to care should not depend on where they live. The Government needs to address this ‘postcode lottery’ and realise that any waiting list plan which does not simultaneously address the Consultant recruitment and retention crisis is destined to fail. Therefore all our patients deserve better.

“These figures should be a wake-up call to Government to urgently address the twin deficits of a shortage of Consultants and also the lack of sufficient public hospital capacity to resolve the record waiting lists we continue to experience.

“To attract and recruit the highly trained specialists needed to fill the one in five permanent hospital Consultant posts across the country that are either vacant or filled on a temporary basis, it is essential a new Independent Chair is agreed with the IHCA to facilitate the resumption of Consultant contract discussions.

“Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly must also deliver on the ‘unambiguous commitment’ he made to end the pay inequity issue for all Consultants contracted since 2012. Therefore this is crucial if we are to fill the over 700 permanent Consultant posts that are vacant or filled on a temporary basis and bring these waiting lists down.”

Analysis based on latest NTFP data as at 27 January 2022: https://www.ntpf.ie/home/nwld.htm
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