Catherine Murphy
Question:935. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Health the average waiting times to see a consultant paediatric urologist at CHI Temple Street. [21423/21]
View answerWednesday, 28 April 2021
Questions (935)
Written answers
It is recognised that waiting times for scheduled appointments and procedures have been impacted in the last year as a direct result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Elective hospital care was curtailed for the first quarter of 2021, in line with the rapid increase in Covid-19 hospital admissions, with only critical time dependent elective procedures undertaken.
On 23 March the HSE published the “Safe Return to Health Services Plan”. This plan outlines a three phased approach for the proposed restoration of services across Community Services, Acute Hospital Operations, Cancer Services and Screening Services. It sets target times for their safe return and details the conditions and challenges that will have to be met. Every phase of the plan has been informed by clinical guidance and putting patient and staff safety first. Decisions in relation to the type and volume of activity will be made at site level based on local COVID-19 numbers, available capacity and guidance from national clinical leads.
The schedule outlined in the plan for resumption of services will be regularly monitored by the HSE and updated as appropriate, dependant on public health advice and healthcare capacity.
Patient safety remains at the centre of all hospital activity and elective care scheduling. To ensure services are provided in a safe, clinically aligned and prioritised way, hospitals are following HSE clinical guidelines and protocols.
The work of the HSE to improve access to elective care and reduce waiting times for patients is supported by the National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF). This includes increased use of private hospitals, funding weekend and evening work in public hospitals, funding “see and treat” services where minor procedures are provided at the same time as outpatient consultations, funding hybrid services where public and private hospitals contribute to the treatment of patients, virtual clinics and clinical validation.
€240 million has been provided in Budget 2021 for access to care, €210m of which has been allocated to the HSE and a further €30m to the National Treatment Purchase Fund. This will be used to fund additional capacity to address the shortfall arising as a result of measures taken in the context of COVID-19, as well as to address waiting lists.
With regard to the particular query raised by the Deputy, the NTPF has advised my Department that under the Children’s Health Act 2018, which came into effect on 1st January 2019, Children’s Health Ireland (CHI) was established, and all assets, liabilities and records were transferred from Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital Crumlin, Temple Street Children’s University Hospital and National Children’s Hospital at Tallaght University Hospital to the new body. From 1st January 2019 all NTPF reports reflect this change, and as a result data from the three sites of Children’s Health Ireland are reported as one entity.
Furthermore, on the 31st of July 2019 Children's Health Ireland opened a new Paediatric Outpatient Department and Urgent Care Centre at CHI Connolly in Blanchardstown. The waiting lists associated with this site are incorporated into the Children's Health Ireland figures.
In relation to the average waiting times to see a consultant paediatric urologist at CHI, the NTPF has advised my Department that the health system does not collect the data necessary to calculate average wait times. In particular, the time to treatment of patients who have already received their care is not collected. The NTPF collects data on patients currently on the waiting list and the average time that these patients have been waiting is provided in the attached table. The table also provides a breakdown of the CHI Urology Outpatient waiting lists by time-band.
CHI Outpatient Urology Waiting List as at 2525/03/2021
|
0-3Months |
3-6Months |
6-9Months |
9-12Months |
12-15Months |
15-18Months |
18+Months |
Grand Total |
Mean Num Days: |
Median Num Days: |
||
|
Children's Health Ireland |
|||||||||||
|
Total Current |
201 |
166 |
125 |
64 |
147 |
94 |
271 |
1068 |
388 |
333.5 |
|