Seymour Crawford (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Question 54: To ask the Minister for Health and Children the number of persons waiting more than one year for an out-patient appointment; the maximum waiting time for an out-patient appointment; her views on the recent Comptroller and Auditor General finding that there was no significant reduction in the national average waiting time for out-patient appointments and that some patients wait up to eight years for an appointment; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [45597/09]

Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Independent)
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There are approximately 3.2 million outpatient attendances a year at public hospital outpatient departments (OPDs). I am determined to improve access to OPD services, which represent one of the key points of access to the acute hospital system. This is reflected in the HSE's National Outpatient Department Service Improvement Programme, the principal aims of which are to:

Increase the number of new patients seen

Reduce waiting times for patients

Reduce the number of patients who do not attend for their scheduled appointments (DNAs) and

Ensure that all patients are seen within 30 minutes of their appointment time.

The programme is currently focusing on increasing new attendances, concentrating initially on the specialties of dermatology, orthopaedics and otolaryngology. Individual hospitals have identified and implemented initiatives to reduce waiting-times and to improve new attendance numbers, such as additional patient slots and clinics (including evening clinics); partial booking systems; centralised referral and booking systems; discharge policy initiatives; and reducing the frequency of return visits. Work is also being undertaken to validate waiting lists to ensure that they reflect only patients actually waiting to be seen.

The Service Improvement Programme includes work to enable comprehensive out-patient waiting list data for all hospitals to be collated and analysed on a standardised national basis. At present, however, the HSE is not in a position to provide the specific information sought by the Deputy.

The findings of the Comptroller and Auditor General in his 2008 Report were, I believe, reflective of the fact that, until recently, this significant area of acute hospital activity had not been the subject of an integrated national approach. The Comptroller's report acknowledged the work being undertaken under the HSE's Service Improvement Programme and the considerable advances already made in relation to the cataloguing of outpatient waiting lists and the reporting of waiting-times.

The HSE has indicated that there were almost 4,000 additional new attendances in dermatology, otolaryngology and orthopaedics in the period January to September 2009 compared to the same period in 2008, bringing the number of new attendances in these specialties for the period to over 128,000.

OPD performance is one of a number of acute hospital service priorities which, from 2010, will be the subject of a system of specific performance management arrangements in order to support the achievement of targets for access to services.

Paul Connaughton Snr (Galway East, Fine Gael)
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Question 56: To ask the Minister for Health and Children if all patients in need of a colonoscopy are seen within her one month target waiting time; the number of patients waiting more than one month; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [45590/09]

Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Independent)
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The HSE is required to report under Section 10(2) of the Health Act 2004 on compliance with a target of four weeks for urgent colonoscopies from date of referral.

An audit on referrals for urgent colonoscopy carried out by the HSE in October showed that 582 or 61.2% of all urgent cases were treated within the target time of one month. However, 328 or 34.7% were waiting between one and three months and 35 or 3.7% were waiting more than three months.

Figures provided by the HSE for 29 November last show that numbers waiting longer than the target time for urgent colonoscopy were down significantly to 151 or 18.4% of urgent referrals, of whom one patient is waiting longer than three months. The HSE has advised that action is being taken to bring the total number waiting longer than one month to zero by mid-December.

A performance indicator covering this issue will be included in the HSE's 2010 Service Plan, with formal monthly reporting on performance.

I understand that the HSE is separately compiling details of waiting times for routine colonoscopy examinations.