The delivery of elective-only hospitals and proper workforce planning will be key to reducing waiting lists for patients, according to Social Democrats TD P\u00e1draig Rice.<\/p>\n
Deputy Rice, who is the party\u2019s health spokesperson, made his comments in response to the Government\u2019s Waiting List Action Plan 2025.<\/p>\n
He said:<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile I welcome publication of the plan and acknowledge that some progress has been made, waiting lists remain unacceptably high.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe recruitment of additional healthcare workers to reach safe staffing levels, along with improved bed capacity, will be required to meet Sl\u00e1intecare targets.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe opening of four elective-only hospitals \u2013 two in Dublin and one each in Cork and Galway \u2013 were also recommended as part of the rollout of Sl\u00e1intecare, with a delivery timeline of 2027\/28. However, we are nowhere near meeting this target.<\/p>\n
\u201cElective-only hospitals would help free up capacity in existing hospitals and, crucially, would significantly reduce waiting lists.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is also concerning that of the \u20ac420 million allocated in the Waiting List Action Plan for 2025, \u20ac230 million is being provided to the National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF).<\/p>\n
\u201cThe NTPF was supposed to be a temporary measure when it was first introduced but now it seems that outsourcing our health services has become the norm.<\/p>\n
\u201cInstead of allowing this creeping privatisation across our health and social care sectors, the Government should be investing that money into building proper public services.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Social Democrats will continue to push for legislation to underpin and maintain targets for maximum waiting times. This is the level of accountability that is sorely needed.\u201d<\/p>\n
February 13, 2025<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The delivery of elective-only hospitals and proper workforce planning will be key to reducing waiting lists for patients, according to Social Democrats TD P\u00e1draig Rice. Deputy Rice, who is the party\u2019s health spokesperson, made his comments in response to the Government\u2019s Waiting List Action Plan 2025. He said: \u201cWhile I welcome publication of the plan […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":11561,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,642,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11560","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health","category-padraig-rice","category-press-release"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n