Waiting lists will never end under FF & Harney—3,598 wait over three months in Galway Hospitals.
Galway West Fine Gael Senator Fidelma Healy Eames has described the latest figures on hospital waiting lists in Galway published this week as proof, yet again, that the Health Minister and the Fianna Fáil Government have no ambition to end waiting lists. Senator Healy Eames said Fine Gael has a different approach as the Party has a plan to permanently slash waiting lists through its FairCare policy.
“These figures show that over 2,700 patients in Galway are waiting more than three months for surgery. There are over 3,500 patients waiting more than three months for either surgical or medical treatment.
“This is quite simply a scandal and shows that the Government has no real desire to end waiting lists. Their desire extends only to keeping the NTPF in business, while Fine Gael has a plan to create a special delivery unit to permanently slash waiting lists so that the NTPF is no longer needed.
“Of course the figures today do not tell the full story as only those waiting more than three months are included. It must also be remembered that the number of patients waiting for an outpatient appointment, while widely considered to be a significant number, remains unquantified.
“There are real people behind these statistics bearing the pain of the Health Minister’s abject failures. These are people whose conditions may be worsening while they wait, who may be in pain or discomfort or who may need an important diagnostic procedure. We will never get anywhere with a tired Government whose ambition extends only to spinning a superficial measure of ‘median waiting time’ instead of addressing the real situation. Fine Gael, if given the chance to implement its FairCare plans, has a very clearly different approach. Log onto www.faircare.ie to see our health plan.”
