Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 15 November 2017
172. Deputy Gerry Adams asked the Minister for Health if he will commission an audit of Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Drogheda by the national treatment purchase fund; when this will be undertaken; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48392/17]
View answer173. Deputy Gerry Adams asked the Minister for Health the other hospitals for which he will commission an audit from the national treatment purchase fund; and when these audits will be undertaken. [48393/17]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 172 and 173 together.
The National Scheduled Care Audit and Quality Assurance Review Programme were established in the National Treatment Purchase Fund in 2014 in conjunction with the National Director of Acute Hospitals, Health Service Executive. This programme is delivered under the NTPF’s Statutory Instrument (2004, S.I. No. 179) “to collect, collate and validate information in relation to persons waiting for hospital treatment and to put in place information systems for that purpose”
The aim and overall objective of this programme is:
1. To audit that hospitals are returning complete, accurate, validated patient information for inpatient and outpatient waiting lists.
2. To audit that hospitals have implemented key internal management practices to manage demand, capacity and productivity ensuring equitable access to treatment for patients on inpatient and outpatient waiting lists.
The RTE Investigates programme in February highlighted the deeply moving personal stories of people waiting for treatment in public hospitals. Following the programme I was determined that the health service must learn from those patients’ experiences. As a result, I asked the NTPF to examine waiting list practices in the hospitals highlighted in the programme.
The NTPF has now reported to me on its findings and last week I published the finding of the Special Audit. The NTPF’s report has a number of actions to be implemented by the individual hospitals and across the public hospital system as a whole, to drive better performance in terms of how waiting lists are managed in our hospitals.
Arising from the audit, the HSE has taken immediate steps to put in place a plan at national level that will focus on driving system-wide implementation of performance and process improvement in waiting list management. As part of this plan, the HSE will assess, review and oversee implementation of performance and process improvement to address the Special Audit findings across all hospitals.
Addressing the Special Audit Report’s recommendations will be a priority for the HSE for the remainder of the year and will form a core pillar of the Waiting List Action Plans for 2018 as well as the HSE’s National Service Plan. In addition I have asked the NTPF to develop a plan to extend the Special Audit process in 2018 to other public acute hospitals.
