The total number of patients in Mayo University Hospital currently waiting to see a consultant greater than one year is 3,334, greater than two years is 606 and greater than three years is 754 patients according to figures released to Cllr Michael Kilcoyne this week. The councillor put forward a question to the regional health forum on the waiting list for their most recent meeting. He asked: What is the length of time patients in Mayo University Hospital have to wait to see a consultant and what is the length of time until their procedures are carried out? How many patients have been on the waiting list to see a consultant for over one year, over two years or over three years and the length of time patients have to wait from when they see a consultant until their procedure is carried out?
He was informed of the numbers waiting for the time periods specified and that: "A significant percentage of the patients referred to above are in medical specialties and generally do not require a procedure. The waiting times for surgery that may be required varies significantly from specialty to specialty and on the urgency category assigned at the out patients clinic. The patients in the Orthopaedics and General Surgery specialties generally have their follow up procedure done at Mayo University Hospital. Patients requiring general surgery are accommodated with surgery dates at the out patients clinic and the patients requiring orthopaedic surgery are given appointments depending clinical priority, however wait time for routine surgery can be up to two years. The patients in the Urology and ENT Specialties are referred to the regional service in University Hospital Galway for their procedures and these lists are managed at that site but we are aware that there are significant wait times for somep rocedures. This applies in particular to patients categorised in the routine category."
