Marcella Corcoran Kennedy (Offaly, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am taking this matter on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for Health, Deputy Simon Harris, who has asked me to extend his apologies to the Deputy as he is unavoidably occupied elsewhere. The debate gives me the opportunity to update the House on the transcatheter aortic valve implant, TAVI, procedures at the Mater Misericordiae University Hospital, as raised by Deputy Chambers.

Aortic stenosis is the most prevalent valvular heart disease and the third most common cardiovascular condition after coronary artery disease and hypertension. Many patients with advanced aortic valve disease are too high a risk for traditional treatment, such as open chest surgery, due to advanced age or co-existing medical conditions. Catheter-based techniques such as TAVI are, therefore, hugely important as they provide an alternative method for treating aortic stenosis in patients with unacceptably high surgical risks. TAVI procedures are a relatively new development in Ireland, with the first case performed in 2008. In addition to the Mater, TAVI services are now provided at St. James’s Hospital, Galway University Hospital and Cork University Hospital.

I understand that funding arrangements to date facilitate a limited number of these procedures to be undertaken each year. The HSE has advised that, so far in 2016, at least 19 TAVI procedures have been completed at the Mater. The HSE has also told me that the Mater manages waiting lists with due regard to the complexity and urgency of the cases presented. Further development of the TAVI service will need to be considered as part of the 2017 estimates process now underway, in the context of overall competing priorities and demands for health service funding.

In the context of waiting lists for this service and for all health services, I wish to emphasise that improving waiting lists for scheduled care is a key priority for the Government. The emphasis in the programme for a partnership Government on the need for sustained commitment and funding to improve waiting times for patients is evidence of this. However, I am aware that waiting list data for June 2016 shows that the numbers of those on lists increased nationally in the first half of the year. The Minister, Deputy Harris, met the HSE national director for acute hospitals on Friday last, 15 July, regarding proposed measures to tackle waiting lists. He has asked the HSE to submit an action plan setting out the specific measures it proposes to implement with hospitals within current resources between now and the end of 2016 in order to achieve tangible improvements in waiting list management. The action plan will focus on measures to improve hospitals' processes in managing waiting lists, to validate all waiting lists and to target the specialties and hospitals with the highest numbers of patients waiting. I want to emphasise the Government’s determination to address undue waiting times for all those in need of our health services, including TAVI procedures, and I am confident that good and steady progress on waiting lists overall can be achieved in the months ahead.

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