WAITING LIST FUDGE MUST BE CLARIFIED
Labour’s Health spokesperson, Alan Kelly TD, says clarity is needed on the total number of people currently waiting for operations or medical procedures in Irish hospitals.
It comes as RTÉ reports that at least two lists have not been published by the National Treatment Purchase Fund, meaning the overall figure may be double the amount.
Commenting on the reports, Deputy Kelly said:
“If, as is claimed, the NTPF is sitting on secret waiting lists, there is clearly a transparency issue here.
“The official public waiting list figure given by the NTPF last year of around 81,000 was already high enough- but to hear that there may be other unpublished lists of people waiting for procedures is obviously concerning.
“The Minister for Health needs to explain why these lists are not being made public and provide clarity on the actual figure.”