Tommy Broughan (Dublin Bay North, Independent)
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62. To ask the Minister for Health the measures he is taking to address the waiting lists for eye procedures; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40790/17]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I acknowledge that ophthalmology waiting times are often unacceptably long and I am conscious of the burden that this places on patients and their families.

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 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. The Inpatient/Daycase Action Plan is being delivered through a combination of normal hospital activity, as well as insourcing and outsourcing initiatives utilising NTPF funding. Under the Inpatient/Daycase Plan, since early February, over 23,800 patients have come off the Inpatient/Daycase Waiting List.

The NTPF has advised that to date 5,901 patients have been authorised for treatment in private hospitals under its Initiatives, 2,235 patients have accepted an offer of treatment in a private hospital and that 1,112 patients have received their procedure. The NTPF has also indicated that 2,841 patients have been authorised for treatment in public hospitals under the Plan’s insourcing initiatives, 910 offers of treatment have been accepted and 285 patients have been treated. Long-waiting Ophthalmology patients are a core group who are receiving treatment under these Initiatives.

Under the Oupatient Plan, since early February, more than 84,200 patients have come off the Outpatient Waiting List .

The Report of the HSE-led Primary Care Eye Services Review Group was published in June 2017. The Review Group determined that there is a need to move from community ophthalmic physicians managing all primary care referrals to a model centred on a multi-disciplinary Primary Eye Care Team and also for the Primary Care Eye Team to liaise closely with the local hospital ophthalmic service to ensure that all patients are managed within the most appropriate clinical service and location.