John Brassil (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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340. To ask the Minister for Health the status of an operation for a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2863/18]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Reducing waiting times for patients is one of the Government's key priorities. October's Budget announced a total 2018 allocation of €55m for the National Treatment Purchase Fund for 2018. This significant increase in funding more than doubles their 2017 total allocation of €20m.

Cataracts are among the most common procedures carried out in the Ophthalmology specialty and were a key focus of the NTPF initiatives in 2017 with significant progress achieved. Between July and December the overall cataract waiting list was reduced by 2,000 and the number waiting over 15 months was reduced from almost 1,600 to just over 300. NTPF figures for the end of December showed more than half of cataract patients are waiting less than 6 months and 72% are waiting less than 9 months. In 2018 the NTPF will continue to arrange the provision of treatment for Inpatient/Daycase patients across a range of specialties and procedures including the provision of cataract operations and I expect to see further progress due to the increased Government funding being made available.

The NTPF work with public and private hospitals in order to provide access for patients to treatment and the hospitals and initiatives are evaluated in line with standard procurement practice. This criteria consists of a combination of price per treatment and the experience of the hospital in providing similar treatments to its patients.

The HSE and NTPF are working together to develop Waiting List Action Plans for 2018. These plans will see a continued focus on long-waiting patients and overall waiting lists.

In response to the particular query raised, as this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to you directly.