Hospital waiting times 'likely to get worse', health board chief says - BBC News

So. you think it's bad here in the United States.......Wait, because it will become worse as hospitals become insolvent and close, and the ACA and medi-caid force hospitals to run in the red. Our health system is on very thin ice. Who will bail you out when you cannot get into a hospital ?

Hospital waiting times 'likely to get worse', health board chief says - BBC News

Coming to America ?

BBC News NI revealed on Wednesday that the number of patients waiting for appointments at Musgrave Park Hospital in Belfast had risen by 75%.

Some patients have had to wait up to 74 weeks to see a specialist.

Valerie Watts apologised to patients who have waited an "inordinate amount of time" for surgery.

"It is both regrettable and it was also disturbing for me to hear about those [waiting times]," she said.

"I am not proud to hear some of these stories, as CEO presiding over the Health and Social Care Board, to hear about these waiting times."

Breaches

But she told BBC Radio Ulster's Stephen Nolan Show that waiting times were likely to get worse "because of the budget".

"We must understand that we have a finite budget within which we are working with this year," she said.

Musgrave Park Hospital's waiting list rises by 75%

Back surgery patients have been worst affected and can expect to wait 18 months for an appointment, according to internal documents leaked to the BBC.

They also show waiting times for knee and hip appointments are over one year.

A 43-year-old man who needs back surgery said he fears he will not be able to walk by the time he is treated.

'Breached targets'

George Anderson, a father of two from County Antrim, said he could not believe what he was hearing when he was told he would have to wait 67 weeks - almost 17 months - for an appointment.

"I don't think by then I will be able to walk. I am trying to do a day's work, trying to make a living, pay a mortgage, look after my kids and family and in 67 weeks I don't think I will be capable of doing all of that," Mr Anderson said.

"My biggest fear is that in 67 weeks I won't be able to pay my mortgage."

George Anderson told the BBC's Marie-Louise Connolly that he fears he may not be able to walk by the time he is treated for back problems

Musgrave Park Hospital in south Belfast is Northern Ireland's regional centre for orthopaedics.

The documents leaked to the BBC had been shared between management and consultants.

They show there is a 74-week (18 month) waiting list to see a back surgery consultant.

For knee appointments, the wait is 59 weeks, while hip patients have to wait 56 weeks.

The documents also show that up to this month, there had been 11,846 breaches of the 18-week waiting list target for a specialist appointment.

Recruitment

A majority of these breaches involve patients with back problems.

The BBC understands that the Belfast Health Trust is currently trying to recruit back specialists and this is part of the problem.

The 75% overall rise in the number of patients on waiting lists includes both inpatient and outpatient appointments.

In March 2013, a total of 19,644 people were waiting for inpatient and outpatient appointments at Musgrave, but by March this year, the figure had risen to 34,358 patients.

'Regret'

Within the Belfast Trust, waiting lists for ophthalmology (eyes), neurology, gastroenterology, and ear, nose and throat (ENT) appointments have also grown considerably.

Belfast Health Trust waiting lists

Ophthalmology - 9 047

Gastroenterology - 4,595

Neurology - 4,556

ENT - 4,050