Deputy Niamh Smyth said, "I want to commend my colleague Deputy Kelleher on putting forward this motion this evening. The provision of quality, yet affordable healthcare is one of the greatest challenges facing society, not just in Ireland, but right across the world.
Patients seeking out medical care expect to be met with some delays and a reasonable waiting time, but for that latitude to be stretched over a series of months with little to no treatment, care, or assurance is simply not okay. My party and I are exasperated by the long times patients spend on waiting lists, but our concern is only eclipsed by those actually on the lists having to deal first hand with this shortfall in out national healthcare system. The steady upward trend of those waiting for medical attention is indicative that our health care system is operating neither effectively nor at capacity.
Within my constituency, Cavan General Hospital has had a 236.2% increase in outpatients waiting 12 or more months for appointments between April of last year to this year. To put that into numbers, 2,350 outpatients have been waiting, with the national figures being even more appalling. At the end of April, there were 654 people waiting for an inpatient appointment, 115 more than at the same time last year.
What is is going to take for the government to address these issue and shortfalls in our healthcare system? The incredulous daily anguish patients from all of our constituencies have to manage for months, even years, on end? We must take steps to amend the capacity shortfalls in our health service before another patient falls victim to its inadequacies.
Many of my constituents have cited incredibly long wait times for procedures like hip and knee replacements and cataract surgeries as causes for concern. Patients who are in need of hip or knee replacements must give up an active life and give way to a sedentary lifestyle until they are able to be treated, which as we have seen can be many months. Others in need of cataract surgeries are unable to drive their cars and become reliant on others to help them with their daily errands. There is also a lack of neurologists to diagnosis patients with Parkinson’s, which only exacerbates the condition and causes those patients to lose treatment options as the disease has significantly progressed by the time they are seen by a professional. Patients and their families are left uneasy not knowing what will happen to them.
Government targets on waiting times have been consistently missed, despite being widened.
These long waits are not only intolerable for the patients, but are also counterproductive and a waste of health service resources that ultimately lead to poor clinical outcomes and increased mortality. It is not possible or desirable to deliver universal single-tier healthcare with the current high waiting times for diagnostics, outpatient appointments, in-patient, rehabilitative and allied health care?
There seems to be an incredulous unmet need for medical care and treatment. We are training a lot of nurses and doctors so where are they? Countless studies show that the majority of our medical students are electing to emigrate and practice in other countries after they graduate. This leaves us with a constant drain of our trained medical professionals and an ever increasing influx of patients. It would appear that the shortcomings in our national healthcare system is not only a detriment to our citizens, but also a deterrent to our professionals. With a healthcare budget of almost €15 billion, this is not a case about doing more for less, it’s about doing better with what we have.
In 2002, Fianna Fáil set up the Treatment Purchase Fund to assist many patients in getting routine non acute treatment. From its induction to the time of its close in 2010, almost 200,000 public patients were treated. In 2012, former Fine Gael Health Minister, James Reilly closed the fund, and ended its good work. There’s no two ways about it—the rocketing of waiting lists has been exacerbated by this retrograde situation.
Last year, Fianna Fáil forced the current government to resume the National Treatment Purchase Fund as one of its stipulations for support. While we welcome its recommencement, more money should be provided to the Treatment Purchase Fund in order to reduce the long waiting times and increase the number of patients treated.
At present, our national health service is not fit for purpose as seen by the incredibly long wait times and obvious neglect of patients in need of medical care. It is our job and duty to tackle these shortcomings at a policy and funding level. I hope that the Government accepts that chance is needed and support our responsible motion this week."
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