NON-ATTENDANCE AT OUTPATIENT CLINICS COSTING £12 MILLION PER YEAR

At the launch today of the Northern Ireland Assembly’s Public Accounts Committee Report on Outpatients: Missed Appointments and Cancelled Clinics, Mr John O’Dowd, the Committee Chairperson, said,

“ I was astounded to learn that Northern Ireland has the highest clinic non-attendance rate in the United Kingdom.”

The Committee in its report stated:

“In a typical year over 300,000 outpatients will not be seen at clinics. This element of unpredictability costs the Health Service around £12 million a year, makes managing clinics difficult, and can lead to a poor service and longer waiting times.”

Mr O’Dowd said:

“Departments need to examine why the levels of non-attendance are at such a high level and take action to reduce this. To date, I have seen little evidence to suggest that this is happening. There is therefore a clear need to use targets similar to those used in Great Britain as a means of focussing attention on this issue.”

The Committee welcomed the Department’s achievement in meeting its March 2007 target that no one should wait more than 26 weeks for a consultation, and acknowledges that the Department’s approach in addressing this, through the use of the private sector at a cost of £6.3 million, was reasonable in the circumstances. However, the Committee emphasised that the achievement and maintenance of these results in the long term, should not be at the expense of clinical standards or priorities.

Mr O’Dowd added:

“ The Committee was concerned with the variance of performance across specialties and Trusts. It was particularly concerned at the level of non-attendance in the mental health sector and was disappointed by the Department’s lack of commitment to monitoring performance in this area against target reductions and timescales.

“In response the Department had said that it recognised that staff shortages and the need to recruit staff in this sector were crucial to addressing not only non-attendance, but a wider range of strategic issues in the Health Service. “However the Committee remains concerned that this may be indicative of poor strategic manpower planning on the part of both the Department and Trusts”.

Mr O’Dowd concluded:

“The individual has to attend. The evidence we have obtained does highlight inefficient administration and communication with patients by Trusts. However, patients also have to recognise that their failure to attend impacts not only on their own treatment, but also on those who remain on waiting lists who could have attended in their place.”

NOTES TO THE EDITOR:

The PAC Committee members are:-

Mr John O’Dowd, (Sinn Féin) Chairperson
Mr Roy Beggs, ( Ulster Unionist Party) Deputy Chairperson
Mr Trevor Lunn (Alliance Party)
Mr Jonathan Craig (Democratic Unionist Party)
Mr Simon Hamilton (Democratic Unionist Party)
Mr David Hilditch (Democratic Unionist Party)
Ms Dawn Purvis (Progressive Unionist Party)
Mr Willie Clarke (Sinn Féin)
Mr Mitchel McLaughlin (Sinn Féin)
Mr John Dallat (Social Democratic and Labour Party)
Mr Patsy McGlone (Social Democratic and Labour Party)

Standing Orders under Section 60(3) of the Northern Ireland Act 1998 have provided for the establishment of the Public Accounts Committee (the Committee). The main statutory function of the Committee is to consider accounts and the reports by the Comptroller and Auditor General for Northern Ireland (C&AG) laid before the Northern Ireland Assembly.
The C&AG is head of the Northern Ireland Audit Office (NIAO) and is empowered to investigate any area of expenditure and has a statutory right of access to all files and papers in Departments and public bodies.

Information about today’s meeting can be obtained from the Information Officer –

Kieran Dougan,
Information Office,
Parliament Buildings,
Belfast.
Tel. 028 90521642
Email: kieran.dougan@niassembly.gov.uk