There are almost as many people on the waiting list at Mayo University Hospital as there are living in Castlebar a local councillor has claimed.
Independent Cllr Michael Kilcoyne who is a member of the Regional Health Forum, on foot of a response to a question he submitted to the forum told the Mayo Advertiser that: "The waiting list for Mayo General Hospital is almost equal to the population of Castlebar, that is there are almost 9,500 for outpatients and more than 2,500 in for surgery.
"It has been going on for years, at the end of every year the number is higher and no inroads have been made into it all. Now it is going to get worse with the Covid thing, because they are seeing less people and the numbers they bring in have to be socially distanced so I think a real effort has to be made."
The response to Cllr Kilcoyne's question said that currently there are 9,484 outpatients and 2,654 inpatients on the waiting list, with 4,979 of the outpatients and 1,923 inpatients waiting less that a year, while 1,171 outpatients and 15 inpatients are on the waiting list for more than three years.
