Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I agree with that, with one caveat, which is that we have a long-term plan. The Deputy will be aware that as part of the waiting list action plan, the chief clinical officer, Dr. Colm Henry, is leading out on 37 new models of care. The Deputy and I have discussed the need for record investment in capacity, which is happening. However, I think we are also probably in agreement about the need for modernisation of pathways for patients closer to the home and in the community. People should only be going into the hospitals when they need to be in there. We are also doing that.

The teams in the Deputy's constituency in Waterford deserve great credit. The latest figures as of yesterday are that the total outpatient list in University Hospital Waterford in the last 12 months has fallen 21%. That is a huge endorsement of the people in that hospital. Better still, the total number of patients waiting for outpatient clinics for more than a year and a half has, believe it or not, fallen by nearly 60% in the last 12 months. That is the kind of success we are beginning to see around the system. That is kind of success we need to spread and see happen in every hospital in the country.

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