The recent hospital waiting list figures which show the biggest waiting lists in the history of the State are ‘outrageous’, according to Niall Ó Tuathail of the Social Democrats.
The figures revealed that there are over 707,000 people waiting to be treated in hospitals.
“It is even more shameful that Galway University Hospital has the highest outpatient waiting list, with 39,048 people waiting for their appointment,” said the Galway West election candidate.
Mr Ó Tuathail, who has worked in healthcare reform for the English NHS and the Scottish Government, is calling for action from the government to reduce waiting lists.
“The government has sat on its hands with regard to healthcare reform. Successive health ministers have tried repeating the same failed policies over and over while letting dust sit on implementing Sláintecare, a proposal which has cross-party support and was voted for in the Dáil.”
He said that some of the implementation of Sláintecare could begin relatively quickly.
“A simple action for the government to start Sláintecare could the immediate resourcing of GP care and Primary Health Care Centres.
“Many procedures that are outpatient or day cases could be carried out in properly set up primary health care centre, at a reduced cost compared to hospital treatment and with patients seen quicker.”
