EXCLUSIVE: Two-thirds of Kilkenny patients waiting year or more to see neurologist at St Luke’s Hospital

By COLIN BARTLEY

OVER half the people in Kilkenny waiting to see a consultant neurologist for an outpatient appointment in St Luke’s General Hospital are waiting up to 18 months or more.

KilkennyNow.ie has discovered that two-thirds of the patients with an appointment to see a consultant neurologist are waiting up to a year or more.

The shocking figures emerged in the National Treatment Patient Fund (NTPF) outpatients waiting list report. The report records the number of patients waiting to see consultants in the Irish health system.

The report states 548 people are waiting to be seen by a consultant neurologist in St Luke’s currently, and of these, 248 have still not been seen by a consultant 18 months later.

At present 365 are waiting up to 12 months or more.

Dr Donal O’Hanlon, Irish Hospital Consultants Association (IHCA) President, said that based on the data a record 569,498 people are currently awaiting a hospital outpatient appointment.

“The consultant recruitment and retention crisis, with one in five permanent consultant posts now unfilled, is a key factor in the long wait times patients face and must be addressed by Government.

“To put an end to this crisis, Minister for Health, Simon Harris, must restore pay parity for new consultants to address the massive consultant recruitment and retention crisis and the resultant record waiting lists that are delaying the provision of care to patients.”