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05/09/2002
Minister gets tough on waiting lists
Minister for Health, Social Services and Public Safety, Bairbre de Brún, has put hospital Trusts on notice that she expects them to deliver on waiting list targets set this year.
The Minister was commenting on the latest waiting list figures, which show a 1% rise in the number of people waiting for hospital inpatient treatment.
Commenting on the June figures, the Minister said: "The numbers of people waiting for hospital inpatient treatment rose slightly in the quarter ending 30 June. Most of the increase comes from the new fertility services which were not previously available. Nevertheless, I am concerned about this increase, small as it is. Our target this year is to hold waiting lists at their present levels and I shall now be looking to the service, and particularly Chief Executives of Trusts, to get us back on course.”
But, Ms de Brun was criticised in her role as Health Minister by UUP Health spokesman Rev. Robert Coulter who said there was an increasing lack of confidence in her ability to tackle the problem of waiting lists.
The North Antrim Assembly member said: “The situation is now critical. Under the present Health Minister the service has slipped into terminal decline.
“The Department must immediately investigate alternatives to tackle the problem not just of waiting lists for operations but also the list waiting for appointments as this is having a knock-on effect the whole way down the line.
“The Department on its own does not seem to be able to manage the situation.
“I am calling on the Department to urgently meet with the Assembly Health Committee to formulate a plan to ease this totally unacceptable situation.
“In the past the Ulster Unionist Party has called for the appointment of an independent health auditor to monitor how the vast amounts of money which have been given to the Department are being spent. I am renewing that call."
However, Ms de Brún hit back saying she had taken significant action already to put in place a solid foundation for tackling the waiting problem and that most people were still being treated very promptly.
The Minister concluded: “Despite these figures, I hope people will be reassured by the fact that almost 75% of inpatients seen between April and June 2002 waited for less than three months, and 95% waited for less than a year for their treatment."
(MB)
The Minister was commenting on the latest waiting list figures, which show a 1% rise in the number of people waiting for hospital inpatient treatment.
Commenting on the June figures, the Minister said: "The numbers of people waiting for hospital inpatient treatment rose slightly in the quarter ending 30 June. Most of the increase comes from the new fertility services which were not previously available. Nevertheless, I am concerned about this increase, small as it is. Our target this year is to hold waiting lists at their present levels and I shall now be looking to the service, and particularly Chief Executives of Trusts, to get us back on course.”
But, Ms de Brun was criticised in her role as Health Minister by UUP Health spokesman Rev. Robert Coulter who said there was an increasing lack of confidence in her ability to tackle the problem of waiting lists.
The North Antrim Assembly member said: “The situation is now critical. Under the present Health Minister the service has slipped into terminal decline.
“The Department must immediately investigate alternatives to tackle the problem not just of waiting lists for operations but also the list waiting for appointments as this is having a knock-on effect the whole way down the line.
“The Department on its own does not seem to be able to manage the situation.
“I am calling on the Department to urgently meet with the Assembly Health Committee to formulate a plan to ease this totally unacceptable situation.
“In the past the Ulster Unionist Party has called for the appointment of an independent health auditor to monitor how the vast amounts of money which have been given to the Department are being spent. I am renewing that call."
However, Ms de Brún hit back saying she had taken significant action already to put in place a solid foundation for tackling the waiting problem and that most people were still being treated very promptly.
The Minister concluded: “Despite these figures, I hope people will be reassured by the fact that almost 75% of inpatients seen between April and June 2002 waited for less than three months, and 95% waited for less than a year for their treatment."
(MB)
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