Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 6 July 2021
480. Deputy Johnny Mythen asked the Minister for Health the number of persons on the waiting list for outpatient eye care treatment and inpatient eye care treatment by county; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29620/21]
View answerIt 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.
While significant progress was made in reducing waiting times from June 2020 onwards, the surge in Covid-19 cases in the first quarter of 2021, and the resultant curtailment of acute hospital services, is reflected in the current waiting list figures.
On 23 March 2021 the HSE published the “Safe Return to Health Services Plan”, outlining 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. However, the implementation of this plan has been suspended pending the resolution of the recent ransomware attack, which is having a significant impact on acute hospitals. The HSE is focusing on urgent and time critical appointments and procedures until this incident is resolved. Once the incident is resolved the focus will return to restoring routine elective services.
My Department does not have full access to information on the impact of this ransomware attack on elective waiting lists but will provide an update as soon as one is available.
My Department, the HSE and the NTPF are putting in place plans to improve access to elective care and reduce waiting times for patients. These plans include 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, providing virtual clinics and increasing capacity in the public hospital system.
In recent years, my Department has worked with the HSE and the National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF) to improve access for patients waiting for high volume procedures, including cataracts. Ophthalmology services are provided throughout all hospital groups in the country, with cataract removal one of the key procedures carried out as part of this specialty.
A key development in improving access to Ophthalmology services was the opening of a stand-alone high-volume consultant-led cataract theatre by the University of Limerick Hospital Group in Nenagh Hospital in 2018, with the intention that it would facilitate patients from surrounding geographical areas to avail of their treatment there. The impact of such initiatives can be seen in the reduction in the waiting times to access cataract procedures since 2019. At the 13th of May 2021 there were 4,275 patients waiting for a cataract procedure compared to 6,437 in January 2019.
An additional €240 million has been provided in Budget 2021 for an access to care fund, €210m of which has been allocated to the HSE and a further €30m to the NTPF. This will be used to fund additional capacity to address the shortfall arising as a result of infection control measures taken in the context of COVID-19, as well as addressing backlogs in waiting lists.
My Department, the HSE and the NTPF are currently in the process of finalising a Multiannual Waiting List plan to address waiting lists and bring them in line with Sláintecare targets over the coming years.
Due to the ongoing IT issues triggered by the HSE cyber-attack, the National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF) has been unable to receive weekly national hospital waiting list data or downloads. The latest published waiting list information was collated by the NTPF on 13th May 2021. The information requested by the Deputy concerning the number of persons on the waiting list for outpatient eye care treatment and inpatient eye care treatment by county is outlined in the attached document. This information is based on the latest available data provided by the NTPF.
