Over 2600 operations cancelled in Tallaght/Naas hospitals shows Govt reform agenda an utter failure – Daly

Fine Gael has revealed that over 2,600 elective surgeries were cancelled in Tallaght and 53 in Naas General Hospital in the first six months of last year, with over 40,000 operations cancelled nationally since 2004. The Kildare South’s General Election Candidate, Cllr Richard Daly, has today [15/1/07] said that this level of such cancelled procedures showed that patients were suffering despite the reform agenda promised by the Fianna Fail/PD Government and billions in increased health spending.

“The cancellation of operations is a symptom of the serious problems in the health sector which are preventing the delivery of a decent service to patients, despite the best efforts of staff who are working in extremely difficult conditions. The bed shortage, a major factor in the A&E crisis, is leading not only to hundreds of patients on trolleys each day but also to the cancellation of elective surgeries because day-case beds are being inappropriately occupied by A&E patients. Fine Gael has put forward proposals, including significant investment in step down facilities and Urgent Care Centres, which would provide extra beds and take pressure off A&E. In contrast, Fine Gael’s information shows the current Government is failing to make an impact.

“HSE figures obtained by Fine Gael reveal that over 2600 elective surgeries were cancelled in Tallaght and Naas in the first six months of 2006. The patients who require these surgeries, like for example gallbladder, hernia or varicose vein operations will suffer pain and discomfort while they await their procedures and Fine Gael believes that the cancellation of operations is as big a threat to the welfare of patients as the A&E crisis.

“The impact of waiting times for procedures has been tragically highlighted by the story of ‘Rosie’ which has been the subject of the Liveline programme last week. Last year, the Irish Times revealed that 22,000 operations in total were cancelled in 2005 and Fine Gael’s research shows that over 15,000 of these were elective procedures. Who knows how many of the 7,000 operations which were non-elective were investigative procedures like the one required by ‘Rosie’ to offer the best chance of early detection and successful treatment?

“The sad reality is that while there may be minor progress on the numbers on trolleys the overall picture for the health service is one of total paralysis despite billions in increased spending. The obvious conclusion is that this Fianna Fail/PD Government has utterly failed to deliver on promised reform and for patients like ‘Rosie’ that failure is fatal.

“In addition to our commitment to 1,500 step down beds and 15 Urgent Care Centres, Fine Gael has put forward the kind of innovative ideas which we believe will make the most difference to keeping patients healthy and treating them to the highest standard if they become ill. In particular, our detailed proposal for a fixed interval screening programme would see patients diagnosed free-of-charge through their GP surgery. There is no doubt that health sector reform is desperately needed but after 10 years in power it is clear that the current Government is out of ideas and either incapable or indifferent when it comes to delivering for patients.”