‘Delays in appointing consultants making hospital waiting times worse’

More than 11,000 people were on waiting list for treatment at the Midland Regional Hospital, Mullingar in November – a figure up 65 per cent on that recorded in the comparable period six years ago.

Figures released by the Irish Hospital Consultants Association (IHCA) has revealed that in total, 35,500 people are on waiting lists for outpatient appointments, inpatient or day case treatment, or gastrointestinal (GI) endoscopies at the three public hospitals in Mullingar, Portlaoise and Tullamore.

According to the association, more than one third of those people (12,800) have been waiting for longer than a year.

It is ascribing the delays to the failure of the HSE to fill all approved permanent hospital consultant posts.

IHCA president Prof Alan Irvine said: “With a quarter of all approved consultant posts in the midlands vacant or filled on a temporary basis, people in Laois, Offaly, Longford and Westmeath are being forced to wait much longer than they should for the essential hospital care they need.

“Every single one of the 35,539 people in the midlands waiting for public hospital treatment represents a person and a family seeking healthcare, often while experiencing pain, suffering and the psychological distress at not knowing when they will be able to receive treatment.

“The government needs to urgently act to resolve the consultant recruitment and retention crisis to facilitate the care these patients so desperately need.”

The IHCA says that across the three midland counties, 9,400 more people are now waiting for public hospital care compared with November 2015 – an increase of 36pc.

At the Midland Regional Hospital (MRH) in Portlaoise, the number has more than doubled over the same period.

MRH Tullamore, which accounts for 47pc (16,825) of the waiting lists across the three hospitals, has some of the largest waiting lists in the country, including the fourth largest ENT (Ear, Nose and Throat) outpatient waiting list (5,408), and the fifth largest orthopaedic outpatient waiting list (5,940) nationally.

Those forced to wait a long time for procedures such as hip or knee surgery often have to cope with increased pain, while delays in ENT assessment can present particular concerns of a risk of a possible delayed diagnosis of cancer.

The IHCA says that across the region, the number of patients waiting longer than 12 months for inpatient/day case treatment has increased more than fourfold (+432pc) over the last six years, with a dramatic 57-fold rise in these ‘long waiters’ at the MRH Portlaoise.

The three specialties of gynaecology (704 patients), general surgery (698 patients) and orthopaedics (618 patients) combined account for three quarters (75pc) of the total number of those awaiting inpatient/day case hospital treatment in the midlands.

Since 2015, there are now more than 500 additional women waiting for a gynaecological procedure across MRH Mullingar and MRH Portlaoise.

The IHCA has stated that Ireland has the lowest number of medical specialists per 1,000 population in Europe at 1.48, 42pc below the EU average of 2.54, and it is warning that the severe shortage of consultants across the midlands is the main contributor to the “unacceptable delays” in providing care to patients.

Across the region, 41 (25pc) of the 165 approved consultant posts were vacant or filled on a temporary or agency basis (as at May 2021), with this percentage as high as 30pc at the MRH Mullingar.

A report published last week by the Medical Council revealed the severity of the consultant recruitment and retention crisis. According to the report, 44pc of specialist trainees intend to go abroad to practise medicine, meaning that at a time when more Consultants and doctors are badly needed, the health system in Ireland is losing them.