Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 10 October 2017
364. Deputy Fiona O'Loughlin asked the Minister for Health the number of persons on waiting lists who were due to receive scheduled treatment during October, November and December 2017 who have been notified that their procedure has been postponed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42826/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraI fully acknowledge the distress and inconvenience for patients and their families when elective procedures are cancelled.
Maintaining scheduled care access is a key priority for hospitals, and balancing this with emergency demand is challenging. However, all efforts are made to limit cancellations, particularly for clinically-urgent procedures.
Cancellation of elective procedures can occur for a variety of reasons, including because a bed or the clinical team is not available, cancellations by the patient, or because the patient may not be fit for surgery at the time.
Based on data provided by the NTPF, on average around 3,400 elective procedures are cancelled per month. However, this must be seen in the context of an average of 53,000 admissions to acute hospitals on a daycase and an inpatient basis per month.
The NTPF National Inpatient/Daycase Planned Procedure Waiting List Management Protocol published in early 2017 sets out the national protocols for the management of waiting lists, including the scheduling of patient treatment. Under this Protocol, and in line with best practice, patients should not be scheduled for treatment more than six weeks in advance. On this basis, the HSE has advised that patients will not have been scheduled, as yet, for treatment in November and December. Also, data on cancellations are reported to the NTPF after cancellation and therefore are not available in advance.
The HSE continues to work with hospitals to improve the management of emergency care demand and planning of elective procedures to minimise the impact on patients, as well as the number of sessions lost through cancellations or “Do-Not Attends”.
As the Deputy is aware, the Department of Health has commenced a Health Service Capacity Review, the findings of which are due to be published before the end of the year and will inform future capacity developments.
