Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 24 April 2012
760 Deputy Dominic Hannigan asked the Minister for Health if the National Treatment Purchase Fund may be used to provide orthodontic care for young persons who have been given a waiting period of over three years for their dental treatment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20464/12]
Amharc ar fhreagra761 Deputy Dominic Hannigan asked the Minister for Health if his attention has been drawn to the waiting times for orthodontic treatment for young persons in Our Lady’s Hospital, Navan, County Meath; his plans to deal with the situation in conjunction with the Health Service Executive and local staff; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20465/12]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 760 and 761 together.
The NTPF have not provided orthodontic treatment in the past as it fell outside of its remit. In July 2011 I announced changes to the remit of the NTPF — namely that it would move from working to largely outsource treatments for those waiting longest to working with hospitals in a performance improvement capacity to improve access to scheduled care. The NTPF has been aligned with the Special Delivery Unit and is now targeting waiting lists strategically and incentivising hospitals to manage their waiting times proactively. The NTPF capability is a core part of the SDU's performance improvement role in holding public hospitals to account. I am determined to address the issues which cause unacceptable delays in patients receiving treatment in our hospitals. In this regard I have established the Special Delivery Unit (SDU), which will work to unblock access to acute services by dramatically improving the flow of patients through the system, and by streamlining waiting lists, including referrals from GPs. The SDU is working closely with its partner agencies — mainly the HSE and the NTPF.
By the end of 2011, very significant progress had been made on SDU initiatives in relation to unscheduled care and inpatient/day case targets. In order to maintain and improve on these targets, the SDU has advised the HSE of a penalty scheme which will be levied on hospitals which fail to treat inpatients and day cases within the 12 month target.
The priority for the first quarter of 2012 is for hospitals to support an SDU/NTPF project to establish weekly monitoring of outpatient waiting list numbers. The first task is to collate, analyse and validate the number of outpatient referrals in the system. This work has been well advanced by the HSE during 2011. Once it has been finalised and considered it will enable the SDU to make recommendations to me in respect of an outpatient wait time target in 2012. In principle I will be adopting the same criteria of strict chronological management of the waiting list which is now in place for in-patient treatment. When this process is competed it will inform my decision on how to best approach orthodontic waiting lists The difficult budgetary position facing the health services this year means that maintaining and building on services will be a significant challenge particularly in the initial few months of 2012, typically the busiest time for acute hospitals. However, I am encouraged by the recent successes of the SDU and those involved in the delivery of acute hospital services.
