Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 12 December 2017
289. Deputy Billy Kelleher asked the Minister for Health if the four-month target for persons with scoliosis for 2017 has been discontinued and does not appear in the programme for 2018; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [52800/17]
Amharc ar fhreagra290. Deputy Billy Kelleher asked the Minister for Health if an immediate independent clinical review of scoliosis services will be agreed to in view of the failure to meet scoliosis targets; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [52801/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 289 and 290 together.
The HSE Action Plan for Scoliosis set out a short to medium term strategy aiming to ensure that no patient requiring surgery for scoliosis would have to wait longer than four months for such surgery by the end of 2017. The action undertaken this year included additional activity within our paediatric hospitals, which was facilitated by the staff recruitment campaigns this year, and outsourcing initiatives to hospitals at home and overseas. For the first time in a number of years, the waiting list for scoliosis-related surgery is reducing.
My Department is committed to supporting the HSE to continue to bring down the waiting times and improve access to scoliosis services, and progress continues on reducing numbers waiting and waiting times in a planned, safe and sustainable manner. The four-month target set by the HSE for long waiters this year has driven the progress that has been made and the Director General of the HSE has indicated that the 4 month target will be maintained for 2018 measured from when the person is determined as needing surgery. A Paediatric Scoliosis Services Co-Design Group is in place, which includes clinicians, hospital staff and representatives from the scoliosis advocacy groups, to design a comprehensive contemporary and patient-centred approach to the delivery of scoliosis services. I had a fruitful meeting with this group recently to discuss their work to date. The work of the Co-Design Group will form the basis for developing scoliosis services into 2018 and beyond. The Group is expected to develop criteria for surgery based on clinical grounds and national and international best practice to ensure that children/young adolescents have surgery when clinically indicated for their individual case and within a time period that does not cause clinical deterioration of their condition, as opposed to within an administrative fixed timeline or target.
Further investment in paediatric orthopaedic services next year is being considered in the context of the 2018 National Service Plan discussions.
