19,000 off waiting lists
PATIENTS CUT BEFORE SEEING DOC
NEARLY 19,000 patients have been removed from hospital waiting lists without seeing a doctor since the beginning of this year, new figures have revealed.
Some 2,762 patients who had been waiting for procedures at Galway University Hospital were cut from the list, along with 1,626 who had been scheduled to receive treatment at Tallaght University Hospital.
A total of 18,705 individuals were removed during the first three months of 2024 as part of a validation process aimed at reducing waiting lists in hospitals throughout the country.
Each of the patients were sent a letter by the health service, asking them to confirm whether they still required the procedure for which they were waiting.
Where no response was received, a reminder was issued after two weeks and, after another two weeks, they were removed from the waiting list.
Last week, Health Minister Stephen Donnelly described the process as “an essential part of best practice” in relation to the management of hospital waiting lists.
“Validation is a process whereby hospital administration contacts patients on waiting lists at pre-planned intervals to ensure that patients are ready, willing, suitable and available to attend a hospital appointment or if they wish to be removed from the waiting list,” he said.
The latest figures provided to Fianna Fail TD Jim O’Callaghan show that 5,206 patients have been removed this year from waiting lists at hospitals in the Ireland East Hospital Group, including St. Vincent’s and Mater Misericordiae hospitals.
Saolta University Healthcare Group, which includes Galway University Hospital, had 5,053 patients removed from waiting lists at its constituent hospitals.
Removed
A total of 3,381 patients were cut from waiting lists at hospitals in the Dublin Midlands Hospital Group, which include Tallaght University Hospital and St. James’s Hospital.
Cork University Hospital accounted for 740 of the patients who were removed from lists in the South-Southwest Hospital Group, which also includes University Hospital Kerry and Bantry General Hospital.
Some 1,210 patients were also removed from lists at University Hospital Limerick, while 950 children were cut from waiting lists at Crumlin, Tallaght and Temple Street.