Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent)
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1132. To ask the Minister for Health his views on correspondence (details supplied) regarding waiting lists; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24926/16]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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The National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF) figures have shown a continued increase in the number of patients waiting for appointments and/or procedures within the health system in 2016. There are currently over 530,000 patients waiting for an outpatient appointment, an in-patient or daycase procedure as of end of August 2015. As such it is clear that the health system is currently dealing with a considerable demand for health services that must be planned for and effectively managed. The Department and HSE are committed to driving the necessary process improvements and resources to tackle this issue.

The HSE has developed an action plan aimed at reducing the number of patients on waiting lists to be implemented in the later half of 2016. Key actions include clinical validation of patients waiting for an in-patient or daycase procedure for over 15 months, focusing on providing procedures for the 5% of patients on inpatient and daycase waiting lists for over 18 months and driving process improvement at Hospital Group and individual hospital level. This work will be supported by the Special Delivery Unit of the HSE.

Last week the HSE published the Winter Initiative 2016-2017 which includes a €7 million fund for a targeted waiting list programme to reduce the numbers of patients waiting for orthopaedic, spinal and scoliosis procedures in designated sites. The NTPF's recently launched Endoscopy Initiative 2016 will assist in reducing the waiting lists and waiting times for endoscopy procedures for those patients who are currently waiting over 12 months. Separately, additional 'once-off' funding of €1 million has been provided to the Children's Hospital Group to address cardiac catheterisation waiting lists and assist further with scoliosis waiting lists.

The Programme for Partnership Government(PfPG) clearly commits €50 million in 2017 for waiting list initiatives, with at least €15 million of this allocated specifically to the NTPF. The Department of Health is working closely with the HSE and the NTPF to develop specific initiatives focused on reducing waiting lists in 2017 in accordance with the PfPG's commitments.