Clare Daly (Dublin Fingal, Independent)
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39. To ask the Minister for Health if his attention has been drawn to the establishment of a "lets buy healthcare" scheme to purchase private healthcare for procedures that are not being carried out in the public system due to large waiting lists; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40784/17]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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It has recently come to the attention of my Department that a new commercially operated scheme entitled 'Lets Buy Healthcare' has been established.

I acknowledge that 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.