ALMOST three quarters of public patients on waiting lists for certain surgical procedures said they were satisfied with the length of time they had to wait, according to a study funded by the Health Research Board.
The study of waiting times, for hospital consultation and selected surgical procedures in the greater Dublin area, also showed that the length of time varied greatly depending on the procedure - an average of just over seven months for a varicose vein operation compared to 4.6 weeks for a grommet insertion.
Just over half questioned believed their condition had worsened while they were waiting.
Dr Leslie Daly, of the Department of Public Health Medicine and Epidemiology at UCD, said it was surprising that 71 per cent of people were not unhappy with the time they spent on the waiting list.
"But people are generally reasonable. They realise that the health services are under pressure and are willing to accept that you won't get something done overnight. We actually have a very good health service, despite the pressures, and people are realistic," he said.
Consultants said the factors influencing delays in getting a first time out patient appointment were "lack of beds and insufficient consultant and support staff". They also cited repeat visits by patients, insufficient theatre time and too few out patient clinic sessions.
The study of total waiting times was carried out between 1992 and 1995. The aim was to study the process of patient referral by GPs. Among the procedures were cataract removal, knee and hip replacement, varicose vein removal and grommet insertion and tonsillectomy in children.
The results indicated that the majority of people wait considerably less time to obtain a repeat appointment for an outpatient clinic than for their first appointment.
The authors called on hospitals to review the policy of return patients being given precedence over new patients in this area. Patients and their GPs should also be informed of the delay time, together with the length of the waiting list.
One in five patients did not attend for their out patient appointment, according to the study, and over half of the patients seen were asked to return again.