Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 26 June 2018
388. Deputy Pat Casey asked the Minister for Health the measures being taken to address the waiting lists for neurology treatments in CHO 6 and 7; the waiting list times for CHO 6 and 7; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27859/18]
View answerAfter contacting the Deputy, he confirmed that the hospital the question relates to is in fact Ireland East Hospital Group (and not CH06/7).
Improving waiting times for hospital procedures is a key commitment in the Programme for Government and €50 million was allocated to the NTPF in 2018 to provide treatment for patients. The recently launched Inpatient/Day Case Action Plan outlines the combined impact of HSE and NTPF activity in 2018 to reduce the number of patients waiting for treatment to below 70,000 in 2018. This plan marks a very important milestone in delivering on this commitment.
In 2018 the NTPF will arrange treatment for 22,000 inpatient day cases, while the HSE will deliver 1.14 million elective inpatient and day case hospital operations or procedures. This will mean that by the end of 2018 we will expect to see a significant reduction in the number waiting for a procedure to under 70,000 - from a peak of 86,100 in July 2017.
In terms of the neurology waiting list at the Ireland East Hospital Group, figures for the end of May show that there are currently 38 patients waiting for an inpatient/day case procedure, while 5,113 are on the Outpatient list. Of this number, almost 58% (2,692 patients), are waiting less than 9 months for an appointment.
In order to address the issue of growing outpatient waiting list numbers, my Department, the HSE and the NTPF are in the process of finalising an Outpatient Action Plan for 2018. This plan will support the HSE’s compliance with their National Service Plan targets, reduce the growth in the number of patients waiting for Outpatient services, improve the accuracy of the waiting list, and trial a number of NTPF funded interventions, including weekend and out of hours clinics.
I have requested a detailed briefing focused on neurology services from the Ireland East Hospital Group, and will respond to the Deputy directly when the information is made available to me.
