Jonathan O'Brien (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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To ask the Minister for Health if he will provide, in tabular form, the number of people currently waiting for hip-replacement operations in the public health system; and the percentage that have been waiting for this operation for more than six months and for more than 12 months [17191/13]

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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Immediately following my appointment as Minister for Health, in line with the Programme for Government, I established the Special Delivery Unit. Its aim is to unblock access to acute services by improving the flow of patients through the system. As set out in Future Health, a key goal is to deliver faster more equitable access to hospital services. The implementation of the SDU Performance Improvement Programmes is a key driver of reducing waiting times for scheduled and unscheduled care in hospitals.

In relation to hip replacements on the national waiting list, at end of March 2013 I am advised that the overall number waiting is 1147. Of that total, 22% are waiting more than 6 months and 1% are waiting more than 12 months.