Sinn Féin Finance Spokesperson Deputy Pearse Doherty has described as deeply worrying the latest patient waiting list data for In-patient and Day Case appointments at Letterkenny University Hospital which has revealed that total waiting list numbers across the specialities have increased by almost 9 per cent in April compared to January of this year.
The data, which has been compiled by the National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF), shows that waiting lists grew by an additional 215 patients over this period, also shows substantial increases in the upper waiting times bands, including a more than 10 per cent increase in those waiting between 15 and 18 months for treatment, and a one hundred per cent rise in patient numbers waiting for longer than 18 months between both January and April.
Reacting to the figures, Deputy Doherty said:
“These latest figures in respect of patient waiting lists at the hospital for In-patient appointments clearly shows that the hospital is failing to get to grips with the growing patient demand for its services.
“In January, there were a total of 2,452 patients across each of the hospital specialities but compare that to the last full month for which data is available which is last April, and we see that patient numbers have risen to 2,667 – an increase of almost 9 per cent.
“More worryingly is that when we break those numbers down, we see some significant increases in the upper waiting time bands, where each of the most lengthy time brackets have seen increases between January and April last.
“For example, the numbers waiting over a year to receive an appointment have gone up by some 3 per cent, the number of patients waiting between 15 and 18 months have increased by over 10 per cent, while those waiting in excess of 18 months have actually doubled going from 17 patients in January to 34 in April.
“The data from the NTPF also highlights that certain specialities are particularly struggling to keep waiting list numbers down, with General Surgery, as well as the hospital’s Gynaecology and Orthopaedics departments each having some of the longest waiting times for patients to receive an appointment or to undergo treatments.
“Evidently, this waiting list data is as a direct result of the shameful expectation from Government for our health services to do more with less, while they have continued time after time to starve our acute public hospitals of the resources they need to treat patients in a timely and safe manner.
“In Sinn Féin’s latest discussion document on the hospital, Senator Pádraig MacLochlainn and I illustrated the many areas in which Letterkenny hospital is struggling to cope with service pressures and heightened demand, while the facility has repeatedly been overlooked in terms of resource and funding provision from Government.
“In our document, we also show how a Sinn Féin Government would radically overhaul our health service, by investing in health and ensuring that the needs of every patient can be met.”
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