According to latest figures supplied by the Health Service Executive (HSE), over 5,600 patients in Limerick, which supplies health care services to North Tipperary, are waiting more than four years for an outpatient appointment.
There are 1,473 patients waiting at the Mid-Western Regional Hospital in Dooradoyle.
At the end of February, the Mid-Western Regional Orthopaedic Hospital in Croom had 4,148 patients waiting four years or more.
There were 105,632 patients waiting over a year for a first consultant outpatient appointment nationally across Ireland. The hospitals listed with the longest overall outpatient waiting were:- University College Hospital Galway with 41,035 patients, Waterford Regional with 28,625, Tallaght Hospital with 26,119, Limerick Regional with 23,098, Cork University Hospital with 22,944 and Beaumont Hospital with 22,206.
Meanwhile, plans for the new €14m healthcare facility in Balbriggan, North Co Dublin have now been granted planning permission by Fingal County Council today. You might remember that this centre came to national prominence last year after it emerged the Minister for Health Mr James Reilly added Balbriggan to a list of places chosen for primary care centres, after the final list had already been drawn up by the HSE.
In relation to some prescription medicines, Minister of State Alex White has revealed that for the country’s medical card holders, the number of prescriptions for Viagra has risen from 29,000 in 2000, to 115,00 in 2012. Viagra has cost the Irish taxpayer €28million under the general medical services scheme, since being introduced into Ireland in 1999.
Viagra has cost the Irish taxpayer €28million. If the VIAGRA works it’ll cost the taxpayer
another €28million in child allowance. We are living in a vicious circle.