HEALTH SERVICES
€1.8m for experts as waiting lists rise
September 23, 2013
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Experts hired by Health Minister James Reilly to reduce waiting lists have cost the taxpayer nearly €1.8 million since 2011, new figures show.
One UK expert alone, Dr Martin Connor, has been paid €646,000 to date.
Recent figures revealed that the number of patients waiting over nine months for hospital treatment has grown by a massive 115% in the year to the end of August 2013.
Health Minister James Reilly has hired a number of expensive consultants to work with his Special Delivery Unit (SDU) on reducing long waiting lists. However, despite some initial success last year in cutting long waiters, treatment waiting lists have considerably in 2013.
In addition, little progress has been made in reducing massive outpatient waiting lists, which currently stand at just over 374,000.
The SDU has had some success in reducing overall ED trolley numbers, although ED overcrowding is still an issue in a number of larger hospitals.
Figures provided to irishhealth.com show that since 2011, €1.8 million has been spent by the Department of Health on waiting list experts.
Martin Connor, through his company Value Based Health Solutions, was paid €347,925 in 2011, €199,925 in 2012 and €98,420 to date in 2013. Dr Connor this month stepped down from his post as Senior Policy Adviser to the SDU.
Lis Nixon, another UK expert working with the SDU, was paid €202,726 in 2012 and so far this year has been paid €100,880. Ms Nixon is currently under a three-year contract until the end of 2014.
In addition, two companies have received sizable payments for waiting list work.
The Centre for Diagnostic Management has received €314,646 over the past two years, while PA Consulting has been paid €505,568 since 2012.
In mid-2012, the Department of Health said the Centre for Diagnostic Management and PA Consulting would be paid €569,000 for their consultancy work, which was expected to be completed by the end of the year.
However, payments to these companies have continued into 2013, and to date total €820,214.
Other payments to waiting list experts were €10,000 to Dr Hubert Curran over 2011 and 2012, €3,073 to Seamus McGirr in 2012 and €4,998 to the Outpatient Performance Improvement Programme-Cross Border Initiative in 2012.
Total waiting list expert payments to date come to €1.79 million. However, with some of the consultancies continuing to be employed, the total bill when they have finished their work is expected to exceed €2 million.