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Hospital Waiting Lists

Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 13 February 2013

Wednesday, 13 February 2013

Questions (237)

Billy Kelleher

Question:

237. Deputy Billy Kelleher asked the Minister for Health if he will supply in tabular format the number of persons waiting for elective or planned procedures in hospitals here for less than three months, more than three and less than six months, more than six and less than nine months, more than nine and less than 12 months, more than 12 months, at the end of 2010, 2011 and 2012; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7714/13]

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Written answers

In July 2011, I announced the establishment of the Special Delivery Unit as a key part of my plans to radically reform the health system in Ireland. The Unit’s purpose is to improve access to the emergency and elective care system. Since it was established last year, it has been working to unblock public access to acute services by improving patient journeys through the system and by streamlining public hospital waiting lists, I am pleased to be able to say that very significant progress has been made by the SDU in relation to both emergency departments and waiting lists.

Scheduled care – in-patient and daycase. The initial focus for the SDU's Scheduled Care Team has been on waiting times for in-patient and daycase elective surgery. By the end of December 2012, the number of adults having to wait more than 9 months for inpatient and day case surgery was down to 86 from 3,706 in December 2011, a 98% decrease. The number of children waiting over 20 weeks for inpatient or daycase surgery was down to 89 from 1,759 in December 2011, a 95% decrease. The number of patients waiting over 13 weeks for a routine endoscopy procedure went down from 4,590 in December 2011 to 36 at the end of December 2012, a 99% decrease.

Outpatient services. Improving access to outpatient services is also a priority for the Government and for the SDU Scheduled Care Team. Building on work already undertaken by the HSE, the NTPF has now taken over the reporting of outpatient waiting time data. For the first time, clear and comprehensive data is available on www.ptr.ie. The data now being collected will allow the SDU and NTPF to target their resources towards those patients who are waiting longest and ensure that they are seen and assessed. A maximum waiting time target has now been set of 12 months for a first time outpatient appointment by 30 November 2013.

In the coming months, as winter pressures in Emergency Departments ease, the SDU will work towards re-balancing scheduled care to maintain the improvements seen in 2012 and to achieve the new 2013 target that no adult should be waiting > 8 months for in patient and day case surgery.

These significant improvements in access and experience are being achieved despite the economic and budgetary pressures which must be dealt with and managed. They reflect my commitment, and that of this Government, to ensuring patients can access the acute hospital services they need, when they need them

The HSE publishes monthly performance reports on their website. These reports include information on impatient and daycase waiting lists for adults and children, broken down by hospital and region. The monthly performance reports can be accessed via this link:

http://www.hse.ie/eng/services/Publications/corporate/performancereports

The latest report available is for December 2012.

In relation to your request for data detailing the numbers of patients waiting for elective procedures over the last three years, I have forwarded your question to the HSE who will respond to you directly in this regard.

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