Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

To ask the Minister for Health when an appointment to see a consultant in Dublin will be made in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Offaly; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6102/13]

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

Until recently, there was no standardised collection of outpatient waiting list data, which meant that the scale of the issue was unmeasured and consequently no special action was taken to address it. This Government is changing that. The Special Delivery Unit is now dealing with the issue of outpatient waiting lists on my instruction, with the assistance of the NTPF.

Work has commenced on the systematic and automatic collection of waiting time data at an individual patient level, in a standardised format, from all hospitals providing an outpatient service. This will be the first time that such detailed data will be available at a national level from all hospitals. The collection and analysis of outpatient waiting time data will allow the SDU and the NTPF to address issues at regional, hospital, speciality and consultant levels. The Special Delivery Unit and NTPF recently published the first set of validated outpatient waiting time data, on www.ptr.ie. Published data is broken down by region and by hospital.

The target maximum waiting time for a first outpatient appointment in 2013 is that no patient should be waiting more than 12 months by the end of November. Hospitals will be held responsible and accountable for ensuring that patients are seen in outpatient departments within this maximum waiting time. The Special Delivery Unit and the NTPF will assist hospitals in targeting their resources towards those patients who are waiting longest and ensure that they are seen, assessed and appropriately treated. In parallel with reducing the numbers of those waiting longest, the Special Delivery Unit will also commence work with the HSE Clinical Programmes to reform the structure, organisation and delivery of outpatient services to ensure that the right patient is seen by the right health professional at the right time.

The goal of the measures outlined above is to improve access by implementing an Outpatient Service Performance Improvement Programme that will underpin a radical transformation of how outpatient services are delivered in Ireland.

I have arranged for the question to be forwarded to the HSE, who will respond directly to the Deputy in relation the particular case referred to the Deputy's question.