We use Google Analytics to see which pages are read and how the site is used, so we know what to improve. This only runs if you accept. See our privacy notice for details.

Dáil
‹ Questions on Promised Legislation

Hospital waiting lists

Summary

Deputy Byrne raised a constituent's MRI appointment for 2019 and another case involving a long wait for an angiogram after a serious heart attack. The Taoiseach said he could not comment on individual cases but suggested raising them with the Minister for Health and the HSE.

I refer to page 60 of the programme for Government which addresses waiting lists for hospital procedures. While I do not expect the Taoiseach to answer about a specific case, I have a constituent who has been given an MRI appointment for May 2019. Is that acceptable in the Government's opinion? Is there anything it can do for this constituent and many others who have received similar appointments? I have another constituent who has been waiting for over a year for an angiogram and suffered a serious heart attack while on the waiting list. It is surely unacceptable for this to be the case. Surely somebody in government needs to rattle a few cages in the HSE to make appointments happen? The constituent who is waiting for an MRI scan has Parkinson's disease and, as I understand it, the MRI scan is needed to further assess him. He is an elderly man who needs the appointment. It is unacceptable to leave people like him languishing on waiting lists.

Comment on this
Leo Varadkar The Taoiseach Fine Gael

I am sorry to hear that the Deputy's constituents have been waiting for so long for investigations. It is not possible for me to talk about individual cases, but I am sure that if the Deputy raises them with the Minister for Health and the HSE, they will give him a full answer.

Comment on this