I have been informed by the HSE that during 2012 they have taken corrective action to address the issue of waiting times for new and replacement prostheses and have succeeded in making significant progress in reducing the waiting times for prostheses. In March of this year the prosthesis budget for the Cork and Kerry area was increased by 20% to €420,000. This increase in funding was used to address the backlog of primary (i.e. first time) prosthesis requests and as a result the waiting time for sanctioning of primary prostheses is now under six weeks.
In July, further once off funding of €100,000 was provided to address the backlog of replacement prostheses. At present there are a total of 28 patients on a waiting list for a prosthesis, with a further 39 waiting on an ancillary prosthetic product. The longest waiter has been on the list since June of this year.
I am also advised that a HSE South Regional Prosthetics Group has been established since October of this year. It has a broad membership including consultant representation in rehabilitation medicine, orthopaedic, vascular and plastics services. This group is currently working on:
- A standardised application process
- Clinical input into the prioritisation process
- Standardised approach to repeat prescriptions for repairs, socks, accessories.
The benefits of this work, which is well underway, will include clarification and standardisation of the local processes. The establishment of a clinical prioritisation process will provide clinical governance on the allocation of available budget by ensuring that applications are prioritised on the basis of clinical need Representatives of the Prosthetics Group have met with service users recently to ensure that their views and concerns are addressed in the recommendations of the Prosthetics Group.
