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Northern Ireland Waiting Times For Cardiac Surgery

Thursday 1 March 2007

A leading medical charity has welcomed the fact that the reductions in waiting times for cardiac surgery in Northern Ireland. But the reductions are poor when compared with what has been achieved in England.

A leading medical charity has welcomed the fact that the reductions in waiting times for cardiac surgery in Northern Ireland. But the reductions are poor when compared with what has been achieved in England.

Andrew Dougal, Chief Executive of NI Chest Heart & Stroke (NICHS) said, “It has taken 15 years to reduce the waiting time for cardiac surgery to 6 months in Northern Ireland. In England this was achieved not in 15 years but in 4 years. In fact the waiting time is now less than 3 months in England.

The reason for this is clear. Tony Blair, knowing that waiting times were important in the outcome of a General Election, insisted that waiting times were reduced in a very speedy fashion. A special service framework was set up to combat heart disease in England.

It contrasts how there is effective political will in England to deal with problems in regard to health. Such political will and determination are not visible in Northern Ireland.

This may be due in no small part to the fact that Health Ministers come and go within a period of 12 months and spend as little as one or two days per week on the job in Northern Ireland. The result is that the people of Northern Ireland receive improvements in level of service which are much inferior to those achieved in England.

Those working in the Health Service are to be congratulated in reducing the numbers waiting more than 3 months for the first outpatient appointment or waiting more than 6 months for treatment for heart surgery. 62% of those waiting for a first appointment to see a cardiologist are seen within 3 months. For the last few years it had been less than 50%, which is completely unsatisfactory.

This charity welcomes the tough targets set by the Minister and hopes that it will be possible to achieve these for the sake of the people of Northern Ireland. Northern Ireland politicians must ensure that improvements in the Health Service in Northern Ireland match or are superior to those in England. In the last number of years improvements in performance in health in Northern Ireland have been much inferior to the achievements in England.”

Ends

Andrew Dougal was speaking on the day which the DHSSPS announced its figures for waiting times and waiting lists.

This medical charity has been drawing to the attention of politicians and health officials the plight of those waiting for cardiac surgery since as far back as June 1991. Despite the lapse of 15 years it has still not been possible to achieve a target time of 3 months.

The aim of NICHS is that people are seen by the consultant, given the necessary investigations and treatment in the one stay in hospital. Currently these assessments, investigations and treatment take place at different time intervals. This is unacceptable and a highly inefficient way of working.

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