Senior civil servant sought meeting with HSE chiefs in September as outpatient numbers hit record levels
Mr Watt wrote to then HSE chief executive Paul Reid, chief operations officer Damien McCallion and chief clinical officer Dr Colm Henry and included the department’s head of media relations David Leach in the correspondence.
Mr Watt suggested having an “informal chat” about the issue that week. Other records suggest there was also a meeting between senior HSE officials and Mr Donnelly on the topic of waiting lists later that month. The HSE told The Irish Times: “We acknowledge that patients are waiting too long... however, significant progress has been made in relation to reducing the number of patients waiting longer than the 2022 maximum wait-time targets set.”
The HSE said a number of factors affected waiting times including the continuing impact of Covid-19 on hospital services and “the sustained high level of attendances at our emergency departments”.
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