Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 20 April 2016
347. Deputy Catherine Connolly asked the Minister for Health if he is aware of a situation (details supplied); the steps and resources he will put in place to avoid this ongoing situation in the cardiothoracic unit; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7664/16]
Amharc ar fhreagraI am sorry to hear about this patient's experience and want to wish them well. One of the key challenges for our health system is ensuring timely access to health services. Both my Department and the HSE recognise that there are resource availability and structural challenges which impact on individual specialties and hospital sites. Therefore, it is vital to effectively manage waiting lists so that those patients longest waiting are scheduled within the available capacity, once emergency and urgent cases have been dealt with. The HSE National Service Plan sets target key performance indicators for waiting lists so that adults and children receive necessary scheduled care within a timely fashion.
This year, the HSE will focus on a number of activities to manage patient waiting times, including:
- ensuring that chronological scheduling is adhered to;
- putting in place administrative and clinical validation procedures to ensure that patients are available for treatment;
- relocating high-volume low complexity surgeries to smaller hospitals;
- outsourcing a percentage of patients where there is limited capacity to treat them in the public system; and
- designating an improvement lead for each hospital group, to provide support in meeting national targets for appointments and treatment.
In relation to the particular query raised, as this is a service matter, I have asked the HSE to respond to you directly. If you have not received a reply from the HSE within 15 working days please contact my Private Office and my officials will follow the matter up.
