Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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457. To ask the Minister for Health if his attention has been drawn to concerns expressed by ophthalmic consultants in recent media reports regarding treatment times for persons diagnosed with the wet form of macular degeneration; and his plans to address the concerns with regard to waiting times for a simple injection as a form of treatment. [21858/17]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I acknowledge that waiting times for Ophthalmology, including treatments for wet form macular degeneration, are often unacceptably long and I am conscious of the impact of this on people’s lives.

Reducing waiting times for the longest waiting patients is one of this Government's key priorities. Consequently, Budget 2017 allocated €20 million to the NTPF, rising to €55 million in 2018.

In December 2016, I granted approval to the NTPF to dedicate €5m to a daycase waiting list initiative with the aim of ensuring that no patient will be waiting more than 18 months for a daycase procedure by 30 June 2017. In excess of 2,000 daycases will be managed through this process and patients are already receiving appointments.

In order to reduce the numbers of long-waiting patients, I asked the HSE to develop Waiting List Action Plans for 2017 in the areas of Inpatient/Daycase, Scoliosis and Outpatient Services. These plans have now been finalised and will be communicated shortly.

The HSE is currently finalising the Report of the Primary Care Eye Services Review, which aims to reorganise primary eye-care services with an increased emphasis on maximising delivery of a comprehensive service in primary care, thereby creating capacity in hospitals to provide more complex ophthalmology services.

Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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458. To ask the Minister for Health the number of persons diagnosed with the wet form of macular degeneration in 2017; the number of these persons currently awaiting treatment; the average waiting time for same; the number of these persons currently awaiting a follow up outpatient appointment; the average waiting time for same; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21859/17]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I acknowledge that waiting times for Ophthalmology, including treatments for wet form macular degeneration, are often unacceptably long and I am conscious of the impact of this on people’s lives.

Reducing waiting times for the longest waiting patients is one of this Government's key priorities. Consequently, Budget 2017 allocated €20 million to the NTPF, rising to €55 million in 2018.

In December 2016, I granted approval to the NTPF to dedicate €5m to a daycase waiting list initiative with the aim of ensuring that no patient will be waiting more than 18 months for a daycase procedure by 30 June 2017.In excess of 2,000 daycases will be managed through this process and patients are already receiving appointments.

In order to reduce the numbers of long-waiting patients, I asked the HSE to develop Waiting List Action Plans for 2017 in the areas of Inpatient/Daycase, Scoliosis and Outpatient Services. These plans have now been finalised and will be communicated shortly.

The HSE is currently finalising the Report of the Primary Care Eye Services Review, which aims to reorganise primary eye-care services with an increased emphasis on maximising delivery of a comprehensive service in primary care, thereby creating capacity in hospitals to provide more complex ophthalmology services.

In response to the particular query raised, as this is a service matter, I have asked the HSE to provide the specific details to you directly.