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

Improving timely access to care is a key priority for the Government which is why, in January, I put in place maximum permissible waiting times of 18 months by the end of June and 15 months by year-end for routine appointments. In June, the HSE reported a performance against the 18-month maximum waiting time for outpatients of 92%. In September, there was a slight increase in the number of patients waiting over 18 months for an outpatient appointment in both Naas and Tallaght hospitals. However, the overall number of patients on outpatient waiting lists in both hospitals actually fell during this period. Less than 1% of the total number of patients on the outpatient waiting lists in these two hospitals are waiting over 18 months, while almost 90% are waiting less than 12 months in Naas and 75% are waiting less than 12 months in Tallaght.

I want to assure the Deputy that the Dublin Midlands Hospital Group is actively engaging with the hospitals to support them in addressing capacity issues in specific specialties. Concerted efforts have been made to reduce outpatient waiting times nationally by facilitating additional clinics outside conventional working hours and outsourcing where capacity is limited. As an example of the volume of work which is ongoing at present, over 58,000 outpatient appointments are being provided in the next six weeks. Approximately 4,620 outpatient appointments are being provided by mid-November, specifically for those waiting 15 months and over. During that same period, almost 20,250 patients from the waiting lists will undergo an inpatient or day-case procedure or scope.

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