Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 5 March 2020
709. Deputy Stephen Donnelly asked the Minister for Health the number of outpatient appointments outstanding for more than two years at the end of February 2020; the number outstanding for more than three years; and the number outstanding for more than four years by each reporting hospital in tabular form. [3401/20]
Amharc ar fhreagraI am conscious that waiting times are often unacceptably long and of the burden that this places on patients and their families. In this regard, the Government is committed to improving waiting times for hospital appointments and procedures.
Budget 2020 announced 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. The NTPF will work with the hospital system to provide additionality to improve access to inpatient/daycase treatment and with a particular focus on hospital outpatient services. In this regard, I would encourage all hospital groups and individual hospitals to engage with the NTPF to identify waiting list proposals this year.
I wish to advise the Deputy that the latest data published by the NTPF sets out the waiting list position for the end of January and is also available on the NTPF website at: https://www.ntpf.ie/home/nwld.htm.
At the end of January 2020, the overall Outpatient Waiting List stood at 556,770. Of the overall outpatient waiting list, 62,610 are waiting two years or more. Of these 62,610, there are 18,829 patients waiting three years or more. Of these 18,829, there are 3,949 patients waiting four years or more. This information is provided at hospital level and outlined in the attached documents.
