Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 16 October 2018
362. Deputy Jan O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Health the number of hip and knee replacements carried out at Croom Hospital, County Limerick, in each of the years 2016 to 2017 and to date in 2018; the number of persons awaiting hip and knee replacement operations at the hospital; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41836/18]
View answerReducing waiting time for patients for hospital operations and procedures is a key priority for the Government. This year has seen ongoing improvements with the number of patients waiting for inpatient and daycase procedures (IPDC), now at 72,700 from the peak of 86,100 in July 2017. This represents a 16% reduction in the overall number of patients waiting for an inpatient or day case procedure.
In Budget 2019 the Government has further increased investment in this area, with funding to the National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF) to increase from €55m in 2018 to €75m in 2019. My Department is working closely with the NTPF and the HSE to finalise the 2019 Waiting List Initiatives before the end of this year. This approach is to ensure a seamless continuation of the considerable progress made this year into next year.
Data from the National Treatment Purchase Fund (see following table) sets out details of the number of patients waiting for hip and knee replacements at Croom Orthopaedic Hospital at the end of September 2018.
In relation to the number of hip and knee replacements carried out at Croom in the past three years, I have asked the HSE to respond to the Deputy directly.
Croom Orthopaedic Hospital - Waiting List for Hip and Knee Replacements at 27/09/2018
|
0-3 months |
3-6 months |
6-9 months |
9-12 months |
Grand Total |
|
|
Hip |
30 |
4 |
1 |
2 |
37 |
|
Knee |
23 |
7 |
1 |
1 |
32 |
|
Total |
53 |
11 |
2 |
3 |
69 |
