Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 11 December 2019
196. Deputy Louise O'Reilly asked the Minister for Health the number of children on ENT surgery waiting lists nationally by hospital in each of the years 2016 to 2018 and to date 2019, in tabular form. [51941/19]
Amharc ar fhreagraReducing waiting time for patients for hospital operations and procedures is a key priority for Government. In this regard, the Government is committed to improving waiting times for hospital appointments and procedures.
Budget 2020 announced that the Government has further increased investment in tackling waiting lists, with funding to the National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF) increasing from €75 million in 2019 to €100 million in 2020.
My Department is working with the HSE and the NTPF to develop the Scheduled Care Access Plan 2020, which will include ENT services. The National Service Plan 2020 will set out HSE planned activity level for the year ahead, while the NTPF will work with the hospital system to provide additionality to improve access to inpatient/daycase treatment.
In this regard, I would encourage all hospital groups and individual hospitals to engage with the NTPF to identify waiting list proposals for the remainder of this year and for 2020.
The information requested by the Deputy has been provided to my Department by the NTPF and is provided below.
