Joan Collins (Dublin South Central, Independent)
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220. To ask the Minister for Health the way in which a person is referred to the NTPF scheme; if it is the doctor or consultant who refers the person; the length of time they must be on the waiting list before being referred; and the type of health issues that are referred to the NTPF. [18593/18]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Improving waiting times for hospital procedures is a key commitment in the Programme for Government and in 2018 €50 million was allocated to the NTPF to provide treatment for patients.

The recently launched Inpatient/Day Case Action Plan outlines the combined impact of HSE and NTPF activity in 2018 to reduce the number of patients waiting for treatment. Under the Plan, the NTPF will outsource 20,000 inpatient day cases, while the HSE will deliver 1.14 million hospital operations or procedures. This will mean that by the end of 2018 we will expect to see a significant reduction in the number waiting for a procedure to under 70,000, from a peak of 86,100 in July 2017.

There are seven high volume procedures that are the focus of the NTPF funded treatments, specifically cataracts, hip/knee replacements, tonsils, angiograms, cystoscopies, skin lesions and varicose veins. All patients who are clinically suitable for outsourcing waiting more than 9 months will be offered treatment in 2018 for targeted high volume procedures. For patients who are waiting longest for other procedures, the NTPF and HSE will work together to identify the requirements, develop treatment plans, and where possible offer treatments from within existing resources.

In terms of treatment offers, the NTPF authorises public hospitals to offer outsourced treatment to clinically suitable long waiting patients who are on an inpatient/day case waiting list for surgery. These are patients who have been referred on to such a list following clinical assessment by a consultant/specialist at an outpatient clinic. NTPF authorisations are made in respect of the longest waiting patients first.

Decisions regarding the appropriate care pathway for an individual patient will be a matter for their treating clinician.