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

In January, I put in place maximum permissible waiting times of 18 months for inpatient and day case treatment and outpatient appointments by the end of June and of 15 months by the end of the year.

In September, the number of outpatients waiting more than 18 months was 427 for Mayo General Hospital. As the Deputy points out, this represents, unfortunately, an increase over the August figures. However, it does represent an improvement of 120 on the January figures. In January, there had been 547 patients waiting more than 18 months. The figure dipped mid year, but has risen again, but not to as high a figure as at the start of the year. The hospital has confirmed that it is focusing on specific specialties and timeframes based on national targets and that it expects to achieve a maximum waiting time of 15 months by the end of the year.

The HSE has provided additional funding of €51 million this year to ensure these maximum waiting times are achieved by all hospitals. This funding is intended to maximise capacity across public and voluntary hospitals as well as outsourcing activity where the capacity is not available to meet patient needs within the maximum allowable waiting time. In June, the HSE reported a performance against the 14-month maxima of 99.6% for inpatient day cases and 92% for outpatients.

Concerted efforts have been made to reduce outpatient waiting lists overall by facilitating additional clinics outside conventional working hours and outsourcing where capacity is limited. The success of this approach is evident nationally, with the reduction of more than 4,300 in the overall outpatient waiting lists in the six weeks to the end of September. Approximately 4,620 outpatient appointments are being provided by mid-November, specifically for those waiting 15 months and more.

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