Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 15 February 2022
886. Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Health the number of children under 18 years of age who are waiting on the outpatient waiting list at the end of January 2022 or the latest date available by local health organisation, LHO; the number waiting less than four and four to 12 months, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8308/22]
View answerIt is recognised that waiting times for scheduled appointments and procedures have been affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. While significant work continues to positively impact on waiting times and improve pathways to elective care, acute hospitals have been impacted by operational challenges arising from surges in cases related to the Delta and Omicron variants.
The HSE has confirmed to the Department that 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 2022 waiting list action plan, which I will be bringing to Government shortly, builds on the successes of the short-term 2021 plan that ran from September to December last year. The 2021 plan was developed by my Department, the HSE and the National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF) and was driven and overseen by a senior governance group co-chaired by the Secretary General of my Department and the CEO of the HSE and met fortnightly. This rigorous level of governance and scrutiny of waiting lists has continued into this year with the oversight group evolving into the Waiting List Task Force. It has produced a comprehensive 2022 waiting list action plan which will set out high-level targets for waiting list improvement including dedicated funding for service reform, patient pathway improvement, and important significant additionality to substantially reduce the backlog of patients waiting. The taskforce will meet regularly to drive progress of the 2022 plan.
This is the first stage of an ambitious multi-annual waiting list plan, which is currently under development in my Department. Between them, these plans will work to support short, medium, and long term initiatives to reduce waiting times and provide the activity needed in years to come.
The information requested by the Deputy regarding the number of children under 18 years of age who are waiting on the out-patient waiting list at the end of January 2022 is outlined at the following link.
