Written answers

Tuesday, 14 May 2013

Department of Health

Hospital Waiting Lists

Photo of Jonathan O'BrienJonathan O'Brien (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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114. To ask the Minister for Health the action he will take to address the excessive waiting times for outpatient appointments across our hospital system; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22555/13]

Photo of James ReillyJames Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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In 2012 the National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF) initiated a national project to compile, for the first time, an Outpatient Waiting List database based on patient-level information from individual hospitals. Collaborating with individual hospitals, the SDU together with the NTPF and the HSE have developed the OP waiting list minimum dataset that allows for this data to be submitted to the NTPF from hospitals on a weekly basis. This builds on the work previously undertaken by the HSE Outpatient Data Quality Programme. Clear data on the OPD waiting list is now being reported for the first time, and is published on . The waiting list for outpatients is updated monthly. The data show numbers waiting over the various time-bands for a first appointment at a consultant-led clinic. In a further enhancement of the reporting, future updates will for the first time include numbers reported by specialty in addition to the breakdown by hospital.

The total number of people waiting on the out-patient waiting list as at 3 May 2013, as advised by the NTPF, is 376,751. This is a reduction of 7,881 in comparison with the NTPF published figures to March 2013. The data also shows that of the total number of people waiting, some 199,513 (52.6%) are waiting less than six months and almost 278,666 (74%) are waiting less than 12 months. For 2013, a maximum waiting time target has been set of 12 months for a first time consultant-led outpatient appointment and this is reflected in the HSE Service Plan. Currently, the focus is on hospitals continuing the validation of waiting lists. All hospitals have been engaged in this process which is anticipated to be complete by mid-May 2013.

Reforming the delivery of outpatient services is being addressed through the Outpatient Service Performance Improvement Programme. This Programme encompasses the HSE, SDU, the NTPF and all hospitals providing outpatient services. It is a national programme being implemented between 2012 and 2015. The overall aim of the programme is to ensure timely, appropriate access to OP services so that the most appropriate member of the clinical team sees the right patient at the right time. Key elements of this large programme of reform will include ongoing validation of waiting lists, the systematic and standardised management of referrals from primary care, a reduction in unacceptably high “do not attend” rates and appropriate discharging from OP services when clinically appropriate to do so.

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