Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 29 March 2022
723. Deputy Jim O'Callaghan asked the Minister for Health the number of Irish patients who are waiting for a sleep disorder screening appointment; the way this has been affected by Covid-19; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16396/22]
View answer724. Deputy Jim O'Callaghan asked the Minister for Health if he has a strategy to reduce the sleep disorder screening waiting list; if, and the way the sleep patient waiting lists are addressed in the 2022 Waiting List Action Plan; if, and the way sleep patients are included in the HSE National Service Plan 2022 outpatient targets; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16397/22]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 723 and 724 together.
It 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 Department of Health continues to work with the HSE and the National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF) to identify ways to improve access to care, including through increased use of private hospitals, funding weekend and evening work in public hospitals, funding “see and treat” services, providing virtual clinics, and increasing capacity in the public hospital system.
The 2022 Waiting List Action Plan, which was launched on the 26th of February, allocates €350 million to the HSE and NTPF to reduce waiting lists. Under this plan the Department, HSE, and NTPF will deliver urgent additional capacity for the treatment of patients, as well as investing in longer term reforms to bring sustained reductions in waiting lists.
The plan builds on the successes of the short-term 2021 plan that ran from September to December last year. The 2021 plan was developed by the Department of Health, the HSE and the NTPF and was driven and overseen by a senior governance group co-chaired by the Secretary General of the Department of Health 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. The Task Force 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 the Department of Health. 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.
Waiting list reductions and maximum waiting time targets apply to all acute hospital scheduled care active waiting lists. The HSE is engaged with hospital groups in a process to focus on specialties and procedures towards which the waiting list fund needs to be specifically directed to ensure the targets are achieved by year end.
The data requested by the Deputy regarding the number of persons on the waiting list for sleep disorder screening was provided to my department by the National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF) in the attached document. The document outlines the numbers waiting for an Inpatient sleep disorder test by time band as at 24th February 2022, the most recently published waiting list figures.
Total Patients Waiting for an Inpatient Sleep Disorder Test by Wait Time Band as at 22/04/2022
|
0-3 Months |
3-6 Months |
6-9 Months |
9-12 Months |
12-15 Months |
15-18 Months |
18+ Months |
Grand Total |
|
325 |
390 |
224 |
221 |
113 |
90 |
302 |
1665 |
