Row flares as waiting lists grow
STORMONT'S health minister came under fire yesterday for blaming a rise in hospital waiting lists on cuts.
Michael McGimpsey spoke out after a sharp rise in the number of patients waiting over nine weeks for a first outpatient appointment, something that the ministerial target aims to ensure no patient is doing by early next year.
At the end of June, 29,149 patients were waiting more than nine weeks, a sharp increase from 8,581 patients in the first three months of the year.
Mr McGimpsey said the increases were “very disappointing”, but he pointed out that there had been significant improvements in recent years.
“These rises are not, however, unexpected. I have been warning about this scenario for many months. It is a direct result of my budget being repeatedly cut.”
The Ulster Unionist minister continued: “I want to apologise to those patients who will have to wait longer for surgery and outpatient appointments and assure the public that every effort is being made to treat people as quickly as possible.”
But the chair of the Stormont health committee, Jim Wells, said that cuts could not be to blame for the latest rise.
“This constant mantra about the cuts from the minister is not true for this particular period,” the DUP MLA said.
Mr Wells said that while there were cuts in the pipeline, and they were “worrying”, the cuts had not yet happened.
“These waiting list figures are Northern Ireland-wide, but it would be interesting to see if there are regional variations. For example, the Southern Trust has consistently met all its targets.
“We need to see if there are managerial as well as funding reasons for the increases.”
Mr McGimpsey has consistently spoken out against cuts, even though as minister he will be the person who has to implement such savings within his department.
Late last year union leaders warmly welcomed his attendance at a union rally against health cuts.
Under a conventional system of government, the principle of ‘collective responsibility’ ensures that ministers defend decisions in other departments and their own – for example over cuts – even if they privately disagree with them.
Yet collective responsibility is routinely not observed at Stormont, where ministers of one party sometimes publicly criticise ministers of another.
The waiting list figures released yesterday – showing 29,149 patients (26.4 per cent of the total) waiting more than nine weeks for a first outpatient appointment – was a huge rise on the corresponding quarter in 2009, when only 1,114 patients were waiting so long.
It was also a sharp increase of 20,568 on the first quarter of this year, up from 8,581.
The total number of patients waiting more than 13 weeks for inpatient admission at the end of June was 9,579 patients (23.4 per cent of the total number of those waiting).
This number represented was up from 1,117 patients waiting over 13 weeks at the end of June last year.
However, it was still well within the minister’s target, which is that by March 31 next year the majority of inpatients should wait no longer than 13 weeks.
A further target that no patient should wait more than 36 weeks was missed, with 142 patients waiting longer than that.
Mr McGimpsey yesterday said that the latest Treasury figures revealed that spending per person on health is lower in Northern Ireland than in any other part of the UK.
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Sunday 12 February 2012
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