Finian McGrath (Dublin Bay North, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I join the Cathaoirleach in welcoming our friends from Estonia. I hope they enjoy their visit to our Parliament and to our country. They are very welcome here.

Before I respond to Senator Craughwell's query, I wish to offer my deepest sympathy to the family of the late Peter Mathews who died today. I offer my sympathy to Susan and his family. I know Senator Craughwell will join me in paying tribute to the former Deputy Peter Mathews. He was a very kind, gentle and friendly man and a very dedicated public servant. I again offer our sympathies to the Mathews family.

I thank Senator Craughwell for raising this very important issue today. The personal stories of the people waiting for treatment broadcast in the RTE documentary a few weeks ago were deeply moving and the experiences they described are absolutely inexcusable. The NTPF published waiting list data provide an up-to-date and verified picture of patients actively waiting for a date for inpatient-day case treatment and outpatient appointments. While there has been an evolution in the way the data are gathered and presented in a move towards greater access and transparency, only data on patients actively waiting have been consistently published.

Numbers on the pre-admit list were collected on a phased basis dependent on each hospital’s ability to deliver the data. Verifiable and consistent figures across hospitals for this list became available in 2012. The NTPF started collecting planned procedures data at the end of 2013 and these became available in a consistent manner in 2014.

In the Dáil, the Minister for Health clarified that the NTPF published waiting list data has consistently not included the pre-admit and planned procedures lists. However, it is important to note that these lists have been and are widely circulated on a weekly basis to a broad range of stakeholders including hospitals, hospital groups, the Health Service Executive, HSE, and national clinical leads. Two weeks ago, the Minister for Health committed to asking the NTPF to work towards the publication of the pre-admit and planned procedures waiting lists.In this regard, the NTPF will review and advise me on the appropriate format for publication for these two different categories of patients. In the meantime, I advise Senator Craughwell that as of 31 January, 16,521 patients were waiting for inpatient and day case treatment in the Ireland East hospital group, which covers most of the south east. In addition, there were 3,980 patients on the pre-admit list and 2,925 on the planned procedures list for inpatient or day case treatment in that group. The NTPF regularly reviews its processes to ensure best practice. It has commenced a significant research project examining updated international best practice around publication models and methodologies. The Government looks forward to this work being concluded and to any actions arising from its recommendations being taken. Reducing waiting lists for the longest waiting patients is one of the Government’s key priorities. It is for this reason that €20 million was allocated to the NTPF in budget 2017, rising to €55 million in 2018. The money is going into that investment.

In December 2016, the Minister for Health granted approval to the NTPF for a day case waiting list initiative with the aim of ensuring no patient will be waiting more than 18 months by 30 June 2017. In excess of 2,000 day cases will be managed through this process and I have been advised that appointments under this initiative will be issued shortly. The HSE will also submit waiting list action plans for inpatient day case and outpatient waiting lists. The focus of these plans should be to ensure no patient is waiting more than 15 months on either list by the end of October 2017. The HSE has been requested to develop the inpatient day case waiting list action plan in conjunction with, and supported by, the NTPF's approach to the utilisation of the remaining €10 million of 2017 funding for patient treatment. These plans are being finalised and the Minister for Health expects to receive them imminently.