Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 27 June 2023
649. Deputy Brendan Griffin asked the Minister for Health the breakdown of current endoscopy waiting lists at University Hospital Kerry, showing the number of patients waiting less than 12, 12 to 24, 24 to 36 and 36 weeks or more, in tabular form; how each of these categories compare with the corresponding time in 2022; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30743/23]
View answerIt is recognised that waiting times for many scheduled appointments and procedures were too long before and have been made worse by the Covid-19 pandemic. 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. On the 7th March, I published the 2023 Waiting List Action Plan, which is the next stage of a new multi-annual approach to sustainably reduce and reform hospital waiting lists, and builds on the foundational work done through the short-term Waiting List Action Plan between September and December 2021, which was followed by the first full year Waiting List Action Plan for 2022, both having reversed the annual trend of rising waiting lists.
The 2023 Plan sets out the priorities to continue to address waiting lists this year. The 30 actions in the Plan, which are governed by the Waiting List Task Force, focus on delivering capacity, reforming scheduled care and enabling scheduled care reform.
For 2023, funding totalling €443 million is being allocated to tackle Waiting Lists with €363 million of this being allocated to the 2023 Waiting List Action Plan, to implement longer term reforms and provide additional public and private activity to clear backlogs exacerbated during the pandemic. This will reduce hospital waiting lists by 10% in 2023 as well as continuing to significantly reduce waiting times in line with Sláintecare recommendations. The remaining €80 million of the €443 million is being targeted at various measures to alleviate community/primary care waiting lists.
With this ambitious 2023 Waiting List Action Plan, my Department, the HSE and the NTPF are taking the next steps in the multi-annual approach towards achieving our vision of a world-class public healthcare system in which everyone has timely and transparent access to high-quality scheduled care, where and when they need it, in line with Sláintecare reforms.
The National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF) collates and publishes Inpatient/Daycase waiting list data monthly on the NTPF website: www.ntpf.ie/home/inpatient.htm
The NTPF provides a breakdown of the Inpatient/Daycase waiting list figures by adult and child, nationally, by hospital, and by specialty, in standardised time bands of 0-6 months, 6-12 months, 12-18 months and 18+months. Current and past waiting list data from 2014 is available on the NTPF website, with open data source information also available for public analysis.
In relation to the particular query raised by the Deputy, the attached information, provided to my Department by the NTPF sets out the number of patients waiting less than 12, 12 to 24, 24 to 36, and 36 weeks or more as at the end of May 2023, for Inpatient/Day Case Endoscopy at University Hospital Kerry in comparison with the corresponding time period in 2022.
Endoscopy waiting list figures at University Hospital Kerry as at end of May 2023 and end of May 2022
|
Time Bands (Weeks) |
Less than 12 weeks |
12 to 14 weeks |
24 to 36 weeks |
Greater than 36 weeks |
Grand Total |
|
University Hospital Kerry |
|||||
|
2022 |
|||||
|
May |
313 |
100 |
0 |
0 |
413 |
|
2023 |
|||||
|
May |
325 |
145 |
0 |
0 |
470 |
