Improving access to outpatient services is a key priority for the Government. For 2013, a maximum waiting time target has now been set of 12 months for a first-time outpatient appointment, and this is reflected in the HSE Service Plan. The National Treatment Purchase Fund has now taken over the reporting of outpatient waiting time data, and data is now for the first time available on www.ntpf.ie. The collation and analysis of outpatient waiting time data in a standardised format will reveal the distribution of long waiters across all hospitals enabling resources to be targeted appropriately. In parallel, the SDU will is working with the HSE Clinical Programmes to reform the structure, organisation and delivery of outpatient services to ensure that the right patient is seen and assessed by the right health professional at the right time.
It is important that our health service ensures that treatments being provided are clinically effective and that patients who will benefit most from surgery are prioritised according to clinical need and are given fast access to treatment. Following a request by the HSE, the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) has completed the first phase in a series of Health Technology Assessments of common surgical procedures. Four high-volume surgeries including ENT procedures (tonsillectomy, grommet insertion and adenoidectomy) were included in this first phase. For the procedures assessed in these HTAs, which have high levels of demand, the introduction of thresholds will potentially provide patients and their doctors with greater clarity about the clinical criteria used by surgeons to inform the decision to operate. The thresholds, where possible, should minimise referral to surgical outpatients of patients who do not proceed to surgery.
In relation to the specific query regarding an outpatient ENT appointment, as this is a service matter it has been referred to the HSE for direct reply.
Should the patient's general practitioner consider that the patient's condition warrants an earlier appointment, he/she would be in the best position to take the matter up with the consultant and hospital involved.
