Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 21 June 2018
176. Deputy Barry Cowen asked the Minister for Health the status of the €35 million allocated to the waiting list initiative as outlined in budget 2018; the amount that has been spent; the way in which the money has been spent; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27228/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraImproving waiting times for hospital procedures is a key commitment in the Programme for Government and in 2018 €50 million was allocated to the NTPF to provide treatment for patients. This more than doubled its 2017 total allocation of €20m. This funding was to build on the work started in 2017 in addressing waiting times for Inpatient/Daycase (IPDC) procedures, and to create a strategy to ensure a continued downward trend in waiting times.
In April 2018 I launched the Inpatient/Day Case Action Plan which outlines the combined impact of HSE and NTPF activity in 2018 to reduce the number of patients waiting for treatment to below 70,000 in 2018. This plan marks a very important milestone in delivering on this commitment.
In 2018 the NTPF will outsource 20,000 inpatient day cases, while the HSE will deliver 1.14 million hospital operations or procedures. This will mean that by the end of 2018 we will expect to see a significant reduction in the number waiting for a procedure to under 70,000 - from a peak of 86,100 in July 2017.
There are seven high-volume procedures that are the focus of the NTPF funded treatments, specifically cataracts, hip/knee replacements, tonsils, angiograms, cystoscopies, skin lesions and varicose veins. All patients who are waiting more than 9 months and suitable for treatment at an outsourced facility will be offered treatment in 2018 for targeted high-volume procedures. For patients who are waiting longest for other procedures, the NTPF and HSE will work together to identify the requirements, develop treatment plans, and where possible offer treatments from within existing HSE and NTPF resources.
In terms of treatment offers, the NTPF authorises public hospitals to offer outsourced treatment to clinically suitable long waiting patients who are on an inpatient/day case waiting list for surgery, having been referred on to such a list following clinical assessment by a consultant/specialist at an outpatient clinic. NTPF authorisations are made in respect of the longest waiting patients first.
Furthermore, the funding provided to the NTPF for 2018 is also being used to address the Outpatient waiting list, which remains a significant challenge to be addressed this year. Each year, 3.3 million patients attend Hospital Outpatient clinics for appointments. It is worth noting that in 2017 almost half a million (477,000) outpatients did not attend their appointment.
In order to address the issue of growing Outpatient waiting list numbers, I instructed the HSE to commence development of an Outpatient Action Plan for 2018, which has been submitted to my Department and is currently being finalised. This plan will support the HSE’s compliance with their National Service Plan targets, reduce the increase in the number of patients waiting for outpatient services, improve the accuracy of the waiting list, and trial a number of NTPF funded interventions, including weekend and out of hours clinics.
