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

I thank the Senator for raising these important issues. He is a strong advocate for disability and health services in the Limerick and mid-west areas. I was in Limerick recently at an awards ceremony dealing with young people with disabilities and addressing the matter of training people to work at preschool level. I thank the Senator for his work in this regard. I intend to return to Limerick to visit the services properly as soon as possible.

I welcome the opportunity to address the House on this matter and outline the measures that have been taken to reduce waiting lists for cataract surgical procedures. The position is that, given the long wait for outpatient, inpatient and day-case ophthalmology procedures, the HSE is currently undertaking a demand capacity analysis for this speciality. The HSE has established a steering group and, to date, work has been undertaken on identifying current capacity, projecting future demand for cataract procedures, and how to enhance public hospitals' capacity to meet patient demand.

As part of this demand capacity analysis, work is ongoing to identify possible capacity measures to address cataract waiting lists. Possible future measures include the development of new units and maximising the use of theatre sessions that are currently unused. There is potential to provide more eye care services within primary care, which would help to divert patients from acute hospital services. Expansion of services at hospitals is, of course, another option. In that context, the hospital at Nenagh has been identified as a possible location where ophthalmology services could be developed. Such a service has the potential to help reduce the waiting time for patients in the mid-west and also to provide services for some patients from outside the University of Limerick hospitals group.I understand that the cost of service development, both capital and revenue, has been scoped out by the University of Limerick Hospitals group and has been submitted to the HSE acute hospital division to help inform the demand-capacity analysis. I understand that work on the demand-capacity analysis is not yet complete. I look forward to receiving a report from the HSE in due course.

The House will be aware there has been significant progress throughout 2017 to reduce waiting lists, including for cataract procedures. The HSE and National Treatment Purchase Fund, NTPF, have worked together to continue to drive down long wait times for inpatient and day case procedures. Waiting list numbers published by the NTPF at the end of October show that the number of public patients on the active waiting list for cataract surgery has been reduced by over 16% over the past six months. Between April and the latest available figures, the number on the overall list fell from 13,552 to 11,863. The cataract waiting list fell from 10,304 to 8,667. The waiting list of patients waiting more than 15 months for cataract procedures was reduced from 1,694 to 421. This reduction shows the combined Impact of both the HSE's waiting list action plan and the NTPF’s waiting list initiatives to reduce waiting list numbers.

The NTPF continues to authorise treatment for cataract surgery and to work with both public and private hospitals to access treatment for patients. These reductions in waiting lists are promising. I am aware and accept the Senator's point that more needs to be done to tackle waiting lists in the future. To that end, budget 2018 provided an additional €10 million in 2017 for further waiting list initiatives including cataract procedures for the remainder of 2017. Next year, €55 million is being allocated to the NTPF, which more than doubles the 2017 allocation of €20 million. This significant increase in funding reflects the fact that reducing waiting times for patients is one of the Government's key priorities. This funding will enable the provision of treatment for patients across a range of procedures, including cataract procedures.