Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 29 May 2018
65. Deputy Jim O'Callaghan asked the Minister for Health the action which will be taken to expedite outpatient appointments for the 4,806 children who have been waiting for a consultation in Crumlin children’s hospital for more than 18 months. [23574/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraImproving waiting times for hospital procedures and outpatient appointments is a key commitment in the programme for Government. It is acknowledged that outpatient waiting lists are a challenge which need to be addressed.
The development of a sustainable and safe paediatric orthopaedic service, including scoliosis services for children and young people has been prioritised in the 2018. An additional €9 million has been provided to the HSE in 2018 specifically to develop paediatric orthopaedic services, including increasing access to scoliosis services.
The HSE and Children’s Hospital Group developed a Paediatric Scoliosis Waiting List Action Plan for 2018 and this includes actions targeted at patients waiting longest for an outpatient appointment.
The HSE Service Plan 2018 sets out a target that 80% of patients waiting for a first outpatient appointment will be seen within a 52 week wait timeframe. HSE figures for March 2018 show that Our Lady's Children's Hospital Crumlin (OLCHC) are seeing 61-63% outpatients within 52 weeks.
The HSE advise that in 2017, OLCHC had 68,531 outpatient attendances. It is worth noting that in the same year, more than 10,000 (14%) patients did not attend their hospital appointments.
The most recent NTPF figures for April 2018 show that there was a total of 18,886 patients on the outpatient waiting list for OLCHC. 74% of these patients are waiting 18 months or less.
A key component of the management of waiting lists by hospitals is the categorisation of patients by clinical priority to ensure that all patients receive care in timely and clinically appropriate matter.
The HSE is working with the NTPF and my Department to finalise a joint plan focused on improving overall use of resources to tackle long patient waiting times and ensuring timely access to treatment and care for our patients. I hope to publish this Plan shortly. As part of this process the NTPF and the HSE are currently reviewing proposals from hospitals, including OLCHC for outpatient initiatives.
