Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 13 January 2021
1002. Deputy David Cullinane asked the Minister for Health the hospitals which count all those waiting on outpatient appointments as adults and which do not collect and report child specific wait lists to the NTPF; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1339/21]
View answerIn relation to the matter raised by the Deputy, the National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF) has advised my Department that each hospital supplies a weekly Waiting List extract to the NTPF in accordance with the defined Outpatient Waiting List Minimum Dataset (MDS). One of the fields in this dataset is the Date of Birth of the patient.
In the Irish health system, patients are generally referred for children’s hospital services up to the eve of their 16th birthday, however, there are exceptions. The NTPF classify children/adults as follows:
- Child only hospitals – all patients are classed as children, regardless of age.
- Adult only hospitals – all patients are classed as adults, regardless of age.
- Adult and Child Hospitals – patients under the age of 16 are classed as children, all other patients are classed as adults.
The attached document, provided by the NTPF, details which category each hospital falls under.
