Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 26 July 2017
842. Deputy Micheál Martin asked the Minister for Health the amount of the NTPF allocation for 2017 that has been spent; the way in which it has been spent; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35566/17]
View answerI acknowledge that waiting times are often unacceptably long and I am conscious of the burden that this places on patients and their families.
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. Of this 2017 allocation, €15 million has been set aside for the treatment of those patients waiting longest for inpatient and daycase procedures.
In December 2016, I granted approval to the NTPF to dedicate the first tranche of €5m to a Daycase Waiting List Initiative with a view to ensuring that in excess of 2,000 patients waiting more than 18 months for a daycase procedure will have received an offer of an appointment for their procedure by the end of June. The NTPF has advised that to date over 3,200 patients files have been transferred to private hospitals under this Initiative, over 1,100 patients have accepted an offer of treatment in a private hospital and around 470 patients have received their procedure.
The second tranche of €5m is to be used in an Insourcing Initiative whereby approximately 3,000 patients will receive inpatient and daycase treatment in a public hospital by the end of October 2017. This initiative is currently in process.
Finally, a further €5m will be used in another outsourcing initiative in which a further 2,000 patients will receive inpatient and daycase treatment in the private hospital system. Development of this initiative by the NTPF is ongoing and will be rolled out in 2017. These Plans will utilise both the capacity within the private hospital system through outsourcing, whilst maximising existing capacity in our public hospital system through insourcing within hospital groups.
Embedded in all NTPF Initiatives are procedures to report on the type, nature and cost of treatments commissioned, including controls to ensure quality patient treatment, value for money and efficient processes. My Department has implemented a robust monitoring framework in this regard.
The NTPF submit regular reports to the Department of Health on the number of patients treated, referring hospitals, treating hospitals, and treatment specialty. It may not be possible to make specific information on costs in relation to individual private hospitals available due to its commercial sensitivity however, the NTPF provide to the Department financial reports regarding the waiting list initiatives.
