Peter Fitzpatrick (Louth, Fine Gael)
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To ask the Minister for Health the measures that have been taken to tackle in-patient and day case waiting lists in Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Drogheda, County Louth; the measures that have been taken to tackle the number of patients on trolleys in Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital; the impact of these measures; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14293/13]

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 87 and 139 together.

In 2011, I established the Special Delivery Unit in my Department as set out in the Programme for Government. The aim of the SDU is to unblock access to acute services by improving the flow of patients through the system. The SDU's Scheduled Care Team focused initially on waiting times for in-patient and daycase elective surgery. For 2012, a target was set that no adult should wait longer than 9 months for inpatient or daycase treatment. By the end of December 2012, the number of adults having to wait more than 9 months for inpatient and day case surgery nationally had fallen to 86. This was down from 3,706 in December 2011, representing a 98% decrease.

I am determined that the progress made in 2012 be maintained and improved upon. For 2013, the target is that no adult should be waiting longer than 8 months for inpatient or daycase treatment. It is important to recognise that the progress made in 2012 does not mean the problem is solved, and 2013 will of course be extremely challenging. For example, winter pressures in Emergency Departments have impacted on scheduled care waiting times. However, in the coming months, as winter pressures ease, the SDU will work towards re-balancing scheduled care to maintain the improvements seen in 2012 and to achieve the new 2013 target. Since its establishment of the SDU there has been significant improvements in the waiting times for unscheduled care against a background of reduced funding for health, reconfiguration of services and a challenging socio-economic climate. Hospitals across the country have experienced a surge in presentations to ED, as would be expected in the winter months, resulting in high demand for admissions and a consequent rise in trolley waits. Recent outbreaks of influenza have created additional logistical difficulties in relation to the admission, movement and discharge of patients in some hospitals. Those hospitals have released media messages advising non-attendance and restrictions on visiting. The SDU continues to monitor ED activity closely, engaging with key hospitals via teleconference and on-site meetings, collaborating in putting in place a range of measures to assist with patient flow and reviewing the available data for trends in relation to the reported levels of high activity.

Despite these pressures the year on year improvements continue nationally. Numbers recorded on trolleys at the end of 2012 showed a marked improvement of 23.6% less than 2011 which equates to 20,386 less people. From 1st January to 15th March, there has been a total of 15,220 patients on trolleys: this is a reduction of 2,258 patients or 12.9% on the equivalent period last year. Priority now is to reduce long waiters (over 9 hours) as we move to a six hour patient journey target. The SDU and the Patient Safety & Quality Directorate in the are currently in communication to agree a mechanism of capturing and responding in instances where a Hospital reports one or more patients breaching 24 hours on a trolley on one or more occasion.

With regard to the specific hospitals referred to, I have asked the HSE to respond directly to the Deputies concerned.

Regina Doherty (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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To ask the Minister for Health the actions taken to reduce the waiting times for patients awaiting a routine endoscopy procedure; the impact of these measures; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14259/13]

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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In 2011, I established the Special Delivery Unit in my Department as set out in the Programme for Government. The aim of the SDU is to unblock access to acute services by improving the flow of patients through the system. The SDU's initial focus was on inpatient and day case waiting times.

With regard to routine endoscopies, for 2012 a target was set that no-one should wait longer than 13 weeks for routine endoscopy. The number of patients waiting over 13 weeks for a routine endoscopy procedure went down from 4,590 in December 2011 to 36 at the end of December 2012, a 99% decrease.

I am determined that the progress made in 2012 be maintained and improved upon and the 13-week target remains in place for 2013. It is important to recognise that the progress made in 2012 does not mean the problem is solved, and 2013 will of course be extremely challenging. For example, winter pressures have impacted on scheduled care waiting times. However, in the coming months, as winter pressures ease, the SDU will work towards re-balancing scheduled care to maintain the improvements seen in 2012.