Fianna Fáil: Outpatient waiting lists at 'crisis levels'
Fianna Fáil says the latest figures for outpatient waiting lists are shocking and completely unacceptable.
According to the National Treatment Purchase Fund, more than 515,000 people were waiting for an outpatient hospital appointment in September. That is an increase of almost 1,000 on the previous month.
Fianna Fáil health spokesperson Stephen Donnelly says it is hard to understand how the Government is getting it so wrong:
He said: "A combination of not really understanding where the investment needs to go, what the clinicians need to get the job done, where to build up the capacity, all of this is leading to the system getting clogged up.
"What we are seeing at the moment for every one person waiting for surgery more than a year back in 2010, there is now 20 people waiting.
"The situation really has reached crisis levels."
