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HOSPITALS IN THE HSE’s Dublin and Midlands region have the lowest rate of outpatient appointments in the country, 55% lower than what was projected in 2016.
Consultants in the group – which covers Offaly, Westmeath, Kildare, Laois, and parts of Dublin city – are taking nearly 1.5 million fewer outpatients appointments than they potentially could be had the rate of appointments stayed the same since 2016.
By contrast, the lowest discrepancy was found in Dublin South-East, at only 17%.
The figures form part of a release by the Department of Health to “demonstrate to public the levels of productivity across the health sector, based on the significant increases in funding and staff invested in our health services during the lifetime of this Government.”
Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly said that the publication of the data “aims to improve transparency and allow the public to see how each hospital and each specialty is doing with the resources they have. The information will also be used to benchmark activity at specialty, hospitals and HSE Health Regions.”
The data covers 21 hospital sites, broken down by hospital and specialty to help the public and GPs to understand regional and hospital performance on waiting times for elective procedures, and on urgent and emergency care.
Accident & Emergency presentations have also increased, with 1.7 million cases in 2023. This surpassed a pre-Covid high of 1.5 million.
Total hours for consultants have also risen, with Whole-Time Equivalent (WTE) rising by over 300 from 2022-2023, and by nearly 1,000 compared to pre-Covid figures.
WTE is the amount of hours worked by a consultant against the standard full-time hours for their grade. If they work the same number of hours as their grade, the value is one. WTE does not include overtime.
Despite the amount of hours worked by consultants rising year-on-year, the number of outpatient appointments per consultant has fallen by over 30% since 2016.
Hospital expenditure has also seen a jump, with an average increase of 57% compared to pre-Covid levels. Cork University Hospital saw the greatest increase – 75% – while Sligo University Hospital saw the lowest at 46%.
Waiting lists are trending downwards across the service in the first half of 2024, with a sharp increase in those waiting less than 12 months for procedures since 2023.
Hospitals in the Mid-West region have seen the most drastic improvement, rising from last place at the end of 2022, to second in 2024. Dublin South-East is the only group to have seen an increase in wait times.
Minister Donnelly also said that while waiting lists had fallen over the last two years, “we need to make much more progress”.
“Patients need to get access to care as quickly as possible. While waiting lists have fallen for the last two years, more people can be treated, and treated more quickly, by improving the efficiency and productivity of our health service.”
“I will continue to fight for more funding for patients and our health service,” he said.
Earlier this week, Minister Donnelly announced an agreement with the Department of Public Expenditure that sees an extra €1.5 billion allocated to the HSE for 2024.
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Doin’ it for themselves. Sounds about right for Irish politicians. They are not doing it for you and I. Self serving, over paid and motivated to maintain the status quo.
@David Nolan: I’d give them a chance to prove your theory.
@David Nolan: Top comment! Got a laugh from it!
@Peter McGlynn: look how the Kingsmill bread moron was treated, they should have kicked him out right away. Politicians? Always look after their own first. Such a shame.
@David Nolan:
Mary Lou said ‘the war is long over. Wrong – there never was a war. There was a terrorist campaign in which YOUR LOT murdered IRISH children , women and men including Gardai and Prison Officers. Admittedly you were not a member then but you have repeatedly defended those, including Adams, who have blood on their hands. Until you condemn those killings your party will not grow here in the South. Euphemisms simply won’t do.
@Donal Hanley: that’s funny, because British soldiers that did a tour of duty in Northern Ireland receive a medal, and on the back of that medal there is an inscription that says “for campaign service”, that sounds like a war medal to me.
@Andrew Giles:
I just looked up campaign in the dictionary. Strangely ‘war’ is not mentioned.
The campaign was protecting the citizens in NI & GB from terrorists. Like your new deputy leader your education seriously inadequate.
@Donal Hanley: “Mary Lou said ‘the war is long over. Wrong – there never was a war.”
Soldiers carryig out massacres, ethnic cleansing, murder gangs, bombings?
Sounds a lot like a war to me.
What year were you born Donal?
@The Risen:
Now define a terrorist campaign genius.
@The Risen: Nope, sounds like a terrorist campaign to me, driven front and centre by the Provo’s.
@Donal Hanley: care to name an irish child that the ira killed??
@F. Wood:
Look up Omagh bombing
@Donal Hanley: Look up who carried out the Omagh bombing.
@Donal Hanley: Your ignorance is astounding.
@The Risen:
I don’t differentiate between your different designation. You’re all the same – same rotten origins.
@Donal Hanley: A “Protestant State for British Protestants in Ireland ” as define by the leader of that State in the 1970s! Thats is the ultimate terrorism rotten to the core ‘Evil Empire’.
@Donal Hanley: my deputy leader, hahaha you know absolutely nothing about me, the reason I know what it says on the back of that medal, is that my father was given one
Before any party members comment on social media regarding this event, per yesterday’s executive order, it is mandatory that you observe party policy of clearing it with HQ first.
Thank you.
@alphanautica: ha!
@alphanautica:
You will find that would be every party’s policy to go through press office
@Fran Kembo: whoosh
@alphanautica: only 9 hours before you posted this bs you stated you were bored with sf stories yet here you are….did your shift start at 7?..is .frape room double time for Sunday?..
@alphanautica: He hasn’t gone away you know.
@Henry Matthews: Its a bit early for tears Henry :-)
@Honeybadger197: hi alpha…
It’s surprising to be elected when you are the only candidate!!
@Rory:
How do you find that surprising if she was and is the best candidate for leader why would you oppose her
@Fran Kembo: rubbish comment and you know it
Interesting to watch this new Dawn and see Sinn Fein grow and grow while Fianna Fail fade away into Fine Gael where they rightfully belong.
@Paul Mc: The deluded addressing the deluded.
@Paul Mc: a new dawn, where they can follow the route of the PD’s, Labour and thr Greens by going into govt with FF or FG, riding the gravy train for a few years, betraying their support bsse and get swallowed up, disappearing into relative oblivion
@Paul Mc: Grow and grow? Do tell.
@JimmyMc: That certainly won’t happen the the Sinn Fein membership would not allow it .
@MK76: while I would love to see a viable alternative to fffg, I think SF will actually become less relevant when they are seen as just an equality party, rather than the edge that their demographic voted for (ie killers with a back story, parading as anti establishment). Let’s put this to the test in the next election in Louth when mlmd is the canvasser instead of Adams.
The growth of the party frightening the be jaysus outta Mehole and Leo ;)
The attacks by the media and FG shills on here in overtime…
Winds of change can’t be stopped..
@Willy Malone: Mary Loo will be calling Mehole “Boss” in no time. Reduced to a big beautiful shinner mudflap!
@The Risen: Oh look, my little impersonator is back LOL!
By the way, I’m wearing blue jeans and a red short sleeve shirt if you want to go the whole hog.
@The Risen: same muppet as yesterday?
@We Love Katamari: Most definitely
As she said make it fit for purpose. So people down the years criticising SF were correct.
I met Mary Lou in Tuam, along with survivors of the home. Her empathy was palpible. She also has great commitment to social advancement. I wish her all the best and to the day when she will be Taoiseach of a united, socially-advanced and peaceful Ireland.
@Niall Conneely: nearly all politicians are impressive and empathetic when you meet them. Unfortunately, that is the front they all have. For a united Ireland, we need people like SF to be more open that they have not been in 40 years to the population of Northern Ireland. Similarly, for a peaceful island we need to stop electing people who have orchestrated the violence in the first place.
@Gulliver Foyle: we dont elect people who orchestrated the violence. The ira in the north emerged as a result of loyalists ethnically cleansing belfast and nationalists being murdered on a daily basis with no help from the police. As for transparency and being open with citizens why wont fg support the sf initiative of a truth comission?
A new dawn for Sinn Féin. It will be interesting to watch.
@john Appleseed: It will be equally as interesting to watch how the establishment react. For a long time there have been calls for Adams to step down if the party wanted to progress. There’s a lot of work to be done to shape the party into a viable alternative to the merry-go-round of FF/FG.
The reaction of the media will also be interesting and most telling.
@Dave Doyle: or if Sinn Fein change in any way
@john Appleseed:
Whatever about Mary Lou will somebody please tell me how the BLAND Bombshell is educationally qualified for her role?
@john Appleseed: New dawn indeed — in fact new dawn is much like the old dawn. And what i mean by old dawn is exactly the same… if there was to be a new dawn then like every other party there would be a leadership contest – contesting leadership is a hallmark of democracy as it shows differing views within a party with the membership deciding on a certain direction…… only one direction SF is going and now they have a more palatable figurehead.
He hasn’t gone away you know!
Mary Lou -Michelle-Arlene-Theresa May and Caroline Bradley-Its definitely Women Power now.
@TheBluffmaster2: all useless.
@Keith D’Arcy: I suppose it would be too much to ask that they would knock their heads together and sort the Northern question.
@TheBluffmaster2: ya but I don’t hear any feminists congratulating them or claiming their achievements. Most feminists just like to revere the ones that shout the loudest about change, they seem to ignore the women that don’t have time to shout about feminism because they are living it
A significant moment no doubt. Will the opposition now react with the change required? Namely the formal amalgamation of FF and FG into one party. The time is now to apply pressure to ensure this comes to pass. Mary Lou could help drive this forward. The biggest mistake Sinn Fein can make is prop up one of these Labour style and facilitate FFG controlling both government and opposition benches.
Fair play to the Shinners this party rejuvenation has been at least a decade in the making. Imagine what the ruling juntas could have achieved if they had the vision and backbone to stick at anything.
I wonder where she learned the “Tiocfaidh ar la!
We had an female minister for justice and Garda Commissioner.
How did gender equality work out there ?
Ffs
Will there be a Wolfe Tones cover version any time soon?
Different faces but same ol SF hypocrisy.
Did they fire off their kalashnikovs into the air and shout Mary Lou Akbar?
Two songs come to mind, “Single Girls (Put A Sock In It)” by Beyonce and “Girls Just Want To Have Fun” by Cyndi Pauper.
As a former Fianna Failer Mary Lou is the ideal choice to lead the shinners into coalition with the Blueshirts, where they can sell out their voters and pay for it later, ala so-called Labour-not a principled bone between them, and plenty of shadowy figures still pulling nasty nasty strings!
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