Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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460. To ask the Minister for Health the extent to which the national treatment purchase scheme can be utilised to alleviate waiting lists at various public hospitals throughout the country; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23771/18]

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 National Treatment Purchase Fund (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 to below 70,000 in 2018.

In 2018 the NTPF will provide 20,000 inpatient day cases through a combination of outsourcing and HSE insourcing initiatives. The HSE will deliver 1.14 million hospital operations or procedures.

Under the Action Plan, the NTPF commits to offer treatment to all clinically suitable patients waiting more than 9 months for treatment in a number of high volume specialties - including cataract, hip and knee replacement, tonsils and scopes.

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 HSE and NTPF 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, having 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.