1,600 waiting for intestinal investigative procedures at UHG

The number of patients waiting more than a year for gastro-intestinal scopes at University Hospital Galway more than trebled in less than four months.

A total of 1,624 patients are currently on waiting lists for investigative scopes, which allow doctors to look for abnormalities in the colon, stomach, and elsewhere in the digestive tract.

One patient has been on the list for more than three years; another has been waiting more than two years and two patients have been waiting for between 15 and 18 months.

Waiting list data – provided by the hospital to the Minister for Health at the end of last year – stated that one patient had been waiting for between 12 and 15 months for an “urgent” gastroenterology scope.

However, the Saolta University Healthcare Group has said that this was a mistake and the patient had been incorrectly added to the “urgent” waiting list.

Figures provided by the hospital group show that the number of patients waiting more than one year for active scopes increased from 34 in November 2016 to 124 at the beginning of this month – more than three-and-a-half times as many (+264%)

Fine Gael TD for Galway West Hildegarde Naughton said the figures were further evidence that UHG no longer has the capacity to provide for the healthcare needs of Galway and the surrounding region.

“We are extremely fortunate to have a world-class team of doctors and nurses at UHG, but they are facing challenges daily to do their jobs in the absence of adequate resources and infrastructure.

“We now have an abundance of quantitative and qualitative data, as well as the testimony of patient experiences, which confirms that the hospital is no longer capable of meeting the healthcare needs of our growing and ageing population.

“This has to be accepted and a long-term solution must be sought, which would see the development of a new hospital on the grounds of Merlin Park. I expect firm plans to be devised around this solution in the coming months,” added Deputy Naughton.

The figures show there are 973 people on the waiting list for a gastro-intestinal scope (down from 1,029 last November) and 651 on the waiting list for a general-surgery scope (up from 551 last November).

A spokesperson for Saolta said that the hospital group is currently working with the Health Service Executive with a view to securing additional capacity to address endoscopy waiting lists.

“In general, the Saolta Group is implementing a variety of measures to reduce the numbers of patients waiting and the length of time they wait. These include validating existing lists, moving activity between hospitals, running additional clinics, new appointments to key specialties, the development of health and social care professionals and nurse-led clinics, and the transfer of surgical activity from UHG to other sites in the Saolta Group,” the spokesperson said.