Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 25 September 2018
267. Deputy Dara Calleary asked the Minister for Health the number of persons awaiting an initial urology consultation by county; the waiting times for same by county; if he will engage with the National Treatment Purchase Fund, NTPF, to address waiting times; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38329/18]
View answerThe data requested by the Deputy are provided in the excel spreadsheets in the following link.
Improving waiting times for hospital procedures is a key commitment in the Programme for Government and in 2018 €50 million was allocated to the NTPF to provide treatment for patients.
The Inpatient/Day Case Action Plan 2018 which was published in April outlines the combined impact of HSE and NTPF activity in 2018 to reduce the number of patients waiting for treatment. NTPF authorisations are made in respect of the longest waiting patients first.
Key to the delivery of the Action Plan is the ongoing collaboration between the NTPF and the HSE and individual hospitals to identify solutions for long waiting patients. The NTPF will provide funding to the solutions proposed if appropriate. To date this year, the NTPF has approved eight Urology submissions which has resulted in the treatment of over 1,400 patients.
Overall, the Inpatient/Daycase waiting list for Urology has reduced by over 1,100 patients since August 2017 with improvements across the 6-24 month timebands.
Nationally, the Outpatient Waiting List remains a significant challenge to be addressed in 2018. The Outpatient Waiting List for Urology has seen an increase of over 1,700 patients since August 2017.
My Department, in consultation with the HSE and the NTPF, is in the process of finalising an Outpatient Action Plan for the remainder of 2018 which I hope to publish soon. The Plan will include the trialling of a number of NTPF funded interventions, including weekend and out of hours clinics.
