asked the Minister for Health if he is aware that there are many cases in Dublin of children who, after their parents apply for their admission to hospital to have their tonsils extracted, have many months to wait before being admitted to hospital for operation; and if he will take steps to shorten the waiting period between application and operation.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Tonsils Extraction.
2.
Mr. Ryan
The majority of the children on the waiting lists of Dublin hospitals for tonsillectomy operations would be cases first detected at school medical service and child welfare clinics run by the Dublin Health Authority. Such cases are referred to the specialist out-patient clinics operated by the voluntary hospitals. The hospital specialist may prescribe treatment and defer a decision to operate, pending completion of the course of treatment. On the other hand, he may consider that it is desirable to operate without delay and in that case he would arrange for the early admission of the patient to hospital. In many cases, however, where a high degree of urgency does not apply there is some delay before admission to hospital can be arranged. Altogether 16 hospitals are involved. The extent of the delay varies considerably from hospital to hospital, but my inquiries show that in the majority of them patients are usually admitted for operation within a month of being seen at the specialist clinic.