Tim O'Malley (Limerick East, Progressive Democrats)

I thank Deputy Upton for raising this matter. I am responding to this on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for Health and Children, Deputy Harney.

Operational responsibility for the management and delivery of health and personal social services is assigned to the Health Service Executive under the Health Act 2004, and funding for all health services has been provided as part of its overall Vote. The former Comhairle na nOspidéal undertook a review of rheumatology services and published its report in 2005. The report recommends the creation of additional consultant posts in rheumatology and recognises the need for the appropriate allied health professional staff, including physiotherapists, to work alongside consultants in a multidisciplinary team approach. Responsibility for the implementation of the report rests with the Health Service Executive.

The executive has advised that it established a working group on arthritis and related conditions earlier this year. The group reflects the range of stakeholder interests in this area including consultant medical, specialist nursing, GP and patient input. The group will undertake a comprehensive needs assessment, propose a model of care and make recommendations for the development and reconfiguration of services across the full spectrum of care. The HSE has also identified chronic disease management as a priority and arthritis is included within this category. To address chronic diseases, the HSE has this year established an innovative self-care management programme and hopes to develop this further in future years.

As the Deputy will be aware, the National Treatment Purchase Fund was established in 2002 to deal with those public patients who are longest on public hospital waiting lists. To date, more than 50,000 inpatients have been treated under this initiative. Happily, we are now at a stage where most public patients who have been waiting more than three months on a public hospital waiting list for a surgical procedure can access the NTPF.

The main referral pathway for arthritis sufferers is via a general practitioner to either an orthopaedic or a rheumatology outpatient clinic for assessment. At the Minister's request, the NTPF expanded its activity in 2006 to include working with public hospitals on outpatient waiting lists. The fund also undertook an outpatient initiative on a pilot basis on the rheumatology outpatient waiting lists in Galway and a further pilot is being undertaken in Dublin with St. James's Hospital.

See this speech in context