Hospital Waiting Lists Data

Wednesday, 13 May 2020

Questions (470)

Catherine Murphy

Question:

470. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Health the number of patients awaiting an outpatient appointment in Naas General Hospital as of 3 March 2020; the length of time waiting for an appointment by each department in the hospital in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4038/20]

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Written answers

Minister for Health

The information requested is contained in the following table.

*Due to the small volume of patients waiting in certain specialties, to preserve patient confidentiality, when the number of patients is <5, these have been included within broader timebands or aggregated into a 'Small Volume Specialties' cohort.

Row Labels	0-3Months	3-6Months	6-9Months	9-12Months	12-15Months	15-18Months	18-21Months	21-24Months	24-36Months	36-48Months	48+Months	Grand Total
Anaesthetics	33	17	13	6	5		9	6	31		30	150
Cardiology	274	187	181	154	124	118	114	74	63			1289
Dermatology	377	226	171	110	48	44	59	39	206	12		1292
General Medicine	614	443	277	176	43	49	30		9			1641
General Surgery	566	82		7								655
Haematology	37	42	25	27								131
Neurology	48	33	49	15					7		63	215
Orthopaedics	519	346	337	266	136	137	124	94	325	32		2316
Rheumatology	65	48	38	44	21	39	25	30	87		46	443
Urology	69		13									82
Small Volume Specialties												5
Grand Total	2607	1436	1098	799	382	392	357	250	715	174	9	8219

I am conscious that waiting times are often unacceptably long and of the burden that this places on patients and their families. In this regard, the Government is committed to improving waiting times for hospital appointments and procedures.

The HSE, Department of Health and the National Treatment Purchase Fund are currently working together to estimate the impact of Covid-19 on Scheduled Care waiting lists, in order to be prepared to address any backlog or pent up demand. My Department continues to ensure that the resources available throughout our health system are best utilised to deal with this unique and challenging situation.

The HSE continues to adhere to the best clinical guidance and NPHET’s recommendations, which have now approved the careful re-commencement of scheduled care activity based on strict criteria to ensure the continued provision of safe, patient-centred care to non-Covid patients. Importantly, time-critical essential work continues throughout the system in line with the National Action Plan, the HSE Model of Care, and World Health Organisation recommendations.

The data requested by the Deputy is outlined in the attached document. This information is also available on the NTPF website at: https://www.ntpf.ie/home/nwld.htm