Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Improving waiting lists for inpatient and day case treatment is a key priority for me and the Government. My Department is working with the HSE to put in place a plan to eliminate very long waiters by the end of the year. This will involve productivity improvement and rigorous waiting list management. Further increasing day case surgery rates for specific procedures will be important in improving elective access within available capacity. Priority will be given to adherence to the guidelines on the scheduling of patients for surgery, including chronological scheduling, which will be vigorously monitored by the HSE throughout the year.

The management of competing demands for emergency and scheduled care requires changes in how and where patients are treated. The movement of care and treatment from inpatient to day case and from day case to outpatients is most important, as is ensuring the appropriate ratio of new to return appointments, which reduces unnecessary return appointments. Limiting elective surgery in preparation for, or as a response to, increased emergency department attendances is intended to help to manage the need for immediate emergency or trauma care.

Where it is necessary to prioritise cancer and other complex cases, the HSE assures me that this is being done. This inevitably will affect waiting lists. The challenge is to minimise the need for cancellation at short notice and to manage the impact of such cancellations effectively, within the hospital and in collaboration with other hospitals. As I have stated publicly in the context of the significant emergency pressures being experienced by hospitals, realistically I do not envisage significant improvement in elective waiting times in the early part of the year. However, based on the high priority attached to this area in the HSE service plan and the first overall increase in the HSE budget in seven years, it is expected that improvement will occur later in the year.

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