Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 3 May 2017
39. Deputy Seán Haughey asked the Minister for Health the measures being put in place to reduce outpatient waiting times in Beaumont and the Mater Hospital, at which more than 11,000 consultations were outstanding for more than a year in March 2017. [20792/17]
View answerI acknowledge that waiting times are often unacceptably long and am conscious of the impact of this on people’s lives.
Reducing waiting times for the longest waiting patients is one of this Government's key priorities. Consequently, Budget 2017 allocated €20 million to the NTPF, rising to €55 million in 2018.
In order to reduce the numbers of long-waiting patients, I asked the HSE to develop Waiting List Action Plans for 2017 in the areas of Inpatient/Daycase, Scoliosis and Outpatient Services. These plans have now been finalised and will be communicated shortly.
The plan to reduce outpatient waiting lists will include two work-streams to address both short-term achievement and long-term sustainable goals. The short-term actions will mainly focus on enhanced chronological scheduling, process improvements, as well as administrative and clinical validation. Longer-term measures will also be implemented, such as referral pathways and integrated referral management systems.
