Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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52. To ask the Minister for Health the reason more than 10,000 persons had been waiting over a year for an outpatient appointment in Galway University Hospital in April 2018. [23511/18]

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

Each year 3.3 million patients attend Hospital Outpatient clinics for appointments, with demand for services growing year-on-year. A key component of the management of waiting lists by hospitals is the categorisation of patients by clinical priority to ensure that all patients receive care in timely and clinically appropriate matter.

The HSE Service Plan 2018 sets out a target that 80% of patients waiting for a first outpatient appointment will be seen within a 52 week wait timeframe.

In 2017, Galway University Hospital had over 246,000 Outpatient Department attendances. This was the highest outpatient attendance of any individual hospital across the country. Based upon HSE figures for March 2018 that show Galway University Hospital is seeing over 73% outpatients within 52 weeks, further improvement is being pursued by the Hospital to achieve national targets for 2018. 

The HSE is working with the National Treatment Purchase Fund and my Department to finalise a joint plan focused on improving overall use of resources to tackle long patient waiting times and ensuring timely access to treatment and care for our patients. I hope to publish this Plan shortly. As part of this process the National Treatment Purchase Fund and the HSE are currently reviewing proposals from hospitals for outpatient initiatives, including in respect of Galway University Hospital.