Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 24 January 2023
563. Deputy David Cullinane asked the Minister for Health the number of patients aged under 18 years on National Treatment Purchase Fund-reported waiting lists, by speciality and hospital, for December 2022, in tabular form; the mean, median, and maximum waiting time across such lists for this population; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2939/23]
Amharc ar fhreagraIt is recognised that waiting times for many scheduled appointments and procedures were too long before and have been made worse by the Covid-19 pandemic. While significant work continues to positively impact on waiting times and improve pathways to elective care, acute hospitals are still impacted by operational challenges arising from the pandemic and the current pressures on Emergency Departments. The Health Service Executive (HSE) has confirmed to the Department that patient safety remains at the centre of all hospital activity and elective care scheduling. To ensure services are provided in a safe, clinically-aligned and prioritised way, hospitals are following HSE clinical guidelines and protocols. The Department of Health continues to work with the HSE and the National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF) to identify ways to improve access to care, including through increased use of private hospitals, funding weekend and evening work in public hospitals, funding “see and treat” services, providing virtual clinics, and increasing capacity in the public hospital system. The 2022 Waiting List Action Plan set targets to reduce both the number of people waiting for care and the length of time they are waiting. Positive progress was made in 2022 in relation to both targets, despite negative impacts throughout the year on scheduled care from continued COVID-19 surges, emergency department pressures and other operational factors, including staff hiring. In 2022, there were c.1.56m patients removed from the Waiting list and c.1.53m patients added to the waiting list – a net reduction of c.30k (4%). Long waiters were significantly reduced in 2022: the number of patients exceeding the 18-month maximum wait time target for new outpatient (OPD) appointments target decreased by c.59.0k (38.5%) and the number of patients exceeding the 12-month maximum wait time target for in-patient day case (IPDC) procedures and GI Scopes has decreased by c3.8k (22.6%) and c.3.5k (86.5%) respectively. Through the 2022 Plan, €350m funding was allocated to the HSE and the NTPF to provide additional public and private activity to reduce the waiting list backlogs that were exacerbated during the Pandemic, but also as the first stage of an ambitious multi annual approach, to lay the foundations for important reforms that will deliver sustained reductions in waiting lists. For 2023, funding of €443 million is being allocated to tackle Waiting Lists, some €360m of which is targeted at acute hospital waiting lists. The plan to utilise this part of the funding is being developed by the Department of Health in conjunction with the HSE and NTPF. This will include details of new capacity planned for 2023 as well as important reforms that will improve capacity in the public hospital system.
The data requested by the Deputy regarding the number of patients aged under 18 years on NTPF reported waiting lists by speciality and hospital for December 2022, is outlined at the link.
The NTPF only collects data on patients currently on the waiting list. The time to treatment of patients who have already received their care is not collected. As a result, the health system does not have the data necessary to calculate true average wait times.
