Sinn Féin spokesperson on Health David Cullinane TD has called on Minister Donnelly to take charge of the waiting list crisis and deliver major capacity boosting measures in Budget 2022.

His comments come ahead of the party’s Private Member’s Bill setting out measures to curb waiting lists, which will be brought before the Dáil this evening. 

Teachta Cullinane said:

“The hospital waiting list crisis can and must be fixed.

“Waiting lists have spiralled out of control and now over 900,000 people are on a healthcare waiting list. There is hardly a family in the country which is not affected by this scandal.

“Waiting lists are up more than 15% since the beginning of the pandemic and have almost doubled since 2014.

“The health service is not fit for purpose and needs major investment to boost capacity if it is to tackle waiting lists.

“Behind record waiting times are stories of pain, worsening condition, delayed diagnosis and treatment, stress, and worry. The human cost is very real and very urgent.

“The Government must act now and that is why we are tabling this motion.

“Government needs to sort out the management of waiting lists and introduce new centralised referral systems and an integrated waiting list management system.

“We also need delivery of a major increase in beds, staff, and diagnostic capacity to meet current needs and tackle waiting lists.

“Care can’t wait and waiting lists are having a catastrophic impact on people who feel abandoned on them with little hope of getting the care they should be entitled to.

“They are also creating problems for people who are receiving a late diagnosis or who may have developed a condition but cannot find out due to diagnostic waiting lists.

“The Minister must take charge of the waiting list crisis and deliver a major capacity boost in Budget 2022.

“Sinn Féin in government would deliver a healthcare system which is fit to deliver the timely, high quality care that patients need. Change is possible and deliverable if the political will is there.”