Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 28 June 2018
43. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Health the categories of patients now on various waiting lists throughout the country; if the most common causes for the accumulation of such waiting lists has been identified with a view to specific intervention to deal with the issue within a reasonable time and in accordance with best international practice; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28332/18]
View answerImproving waiting times for hospital procedures is a key commitment in the Programme for Government.
In recent years, public acute hospital inpatient / daycase activity has increased on a year-on-year basis. In 2016, there was a 2% increase in inpatient/day-case activity over 2015, with almost 1.69 million patients receiving treatment in public hospitals, an increase of almost 40,000 on the previous year.
Waiting list data from the past three years show that the highest waiting lists have been across the specialties of orthopaedics, ophthalmology and Otolaryngology (ENT).
The National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF) collects and collates information in respect of the Inpatient, Day Case, Planned Procedure (IDPP) and Outpatient (OP) Waiting Lists.
NTPF publishes monthly figures in the following categories:
- Patients waiting for an appointment date for their treatment are categorised as 'Active';
- Patients who have a scheduled appointment date for their treatment are categorised as 'TCI', or 'To Come In';
- Patients suspended because they are temporarily unfit or unable to attend due to clinical or personal/social reasons are categorised as 'Suspension'. The Suspension category is also used where patients are at the stage of being offered treatment through various Insourcing or Outsourcing Initiatives.
The recently launched Inpatient/Day Case Action Plan outlines the combined impact of HSE and NTPF activity in 2018 and includes a particular focus on those specialties with high waiting lists.
Under the Action Plan, the HSE will deliver 1.14 million elective inpatient and day case discharges and the NTPF will deliver 22,000 Inpatient Day Case treatments through both outsourcing and HSE insourcing. As part of this process the NTPF and the HSE are currently reviewing proposals from hospitals for waiting list initiatives. The NTPF will provide funding to the solutions proposed if appropriate.
The NTPF initiatives will include a number of high volume specialties and in particular 5,000 cataracts, 800 hip/knee replacements, 1,200 tonsillectomies. In addition, under the Plan, the NTPF commits to offer treatment to all clinically-suitable patients waiting more than 9 months for treatment in these high volume specialties.
Finally, my Department has placed a particular priority on performance improvement in scheduled and unscheduled care in order to improve access for patients. At the end of 2017, a new Unit was established in my Department with a remit to work with colleagues, with the HSE and NTPF to provide strategic direction and drive a whole of Department approach to performance oversight and innovation in this area. The monitoring of waiting lists is a key activity of this Unit.
