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

I thank Deputy Spring for raising this issue and giving me the opportunity to confirm to the House that reducing waiting times for scheduled care is a key objective for the Government. In January, I put in place maximum permissible waiting times for inpatient and day case treatment and outpatient appointments of 18 months by 30 June, and 15 months by the end of this year.

The HSE was provided with additional funding of €51 million to ensure that these maximum waiting times are achieved. In June, the HSE reported a performance against the 18 month maximaof 99.6% for inpatient and day case procedures, and 92% for outpatients. The additional funding provided by the Government in 2015 to reduce waiting times for scheduled care is being used to maximise capacity across public and voluntary hospitals, as well as outsourcing activity to private hospitals where the capacity is not available to meet patient needs within the maximum allowable waiting time.

The HSE is addressing performance against maximum waiting times with hospital groups as part of the regular performance and accountability review process. Fines are being applied at the average cost of inpatient, day case and outpatient appointments, with a view to incentivising improved performance for those waiting longest. The total value of fines levied to the end of October is of the order of €8.47 million.

The latest national treatment purchase fund, NTPF figures, published on 6 November, show some improvements. This is positive and is the first time recently that we have seen reductions across the three key categories of inpatient, day case and outpatient waiting lists.

In line with the reconfiguration of acute services for Cork and Kerry in 2013, the elective surgical component of the ophthalmology service transferred to South Infirmary Victoria University Hospital. All ophthalmic surgery is now carried out in south infirmary. The ophthalmology outpatient department remains in CUH until the full transfer of service has been completed.

I am disappointed that the numbers on the waiting list for ophthalmology procedures in south infirmary have increased between March and October. However, I have been assured that in line with the waiting list initiative, the hospital has written to all patients waiting longer than 15 months for an ophthalmology surgical procedure, to offer outsourcing to a private health care provider. I am also pleased to confirm that the numbers waiting for an outpatient appointment in CUH have reduced overall from 5,513 in March to 4,378 at the end of October. I am advised that the hospital is committed to ensuring that by 31 December 2015, no patient will be waiting more than 15 months for an outpatient ophthalmology appointment. I also want to assure the Deputy that urgent referrals are triaged appropriately and seen in a suitable timeframe, in line with the clinical requirement.

To pick up the Deputy's question, the budget for the NTPF for the entire country for the entire year is €1 million. The NTPF ceased to exist as it used to in 2012. Any outsourcing to private hospitals that is now done does not take place through the NTPF as used to be the case. It is done directly by the hospital group or the hospital itself.

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