Kevin O'Keeffe (Cork East, Fianna Fail)
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17. To ask the Minister for Health the action that will be taken to reduce outpatient waiting times for ophthalmology consultations in Cork University Hospital in which 2,888 appointments are outstanding for more than 12 months. [28199/18]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Improving waiting times for hospital procedures and outpatient appointments is a key commitment in the Programme for Government.  In Budget 2018 the NTPF budget was increased to €50 million. The priority for this funding is reducing waiting time for hospital procedures, and the Inpatient/Day Case Action Plan 2018, published in April, targets a reduction in the number of patients waiting for a hospital procedure to under 70,000 by the end of this year. A key target under this plan is patients waiting for Ophthalmology services, specifically Cataract procedures, and the NTPF will fund over 5,000 procedures this year.

However, the issue of growing outpatient waiting list numbers is one that impacts on patients across a wide number of health specialties, including ophthalmology.  The NTPF has allocated €3 million of its 2018 funding for Outpatient initiatives and my Department, the HSE and the NTPF are in the process of finalising an Outpatient Action Plan for 2018. All Hospital groups have been invited by the HSE and the NTPF to develop and bring forward proposals for outpatient initiatives for inclusion in the Action Plan. 

This plan will support the HSE’s compliance with its National Service Plan targets, reduce the growth in the number of patients waiting for outpatient services, improve the accuracy of the waiting list, and trial a number of NTPF-funded interventions, including weekend and out-of-hours clinics.

Cork University Hospital advice that the development of Ophthalmology services in Cork is being progressed and that this may include the recruitment of medical ophthalmologists whose work would focus on outpatient clinics.  I have asked Cork University Hospital to provide greater details on their plans to reduce outpatient waiting times for this service and I will forward them to the Deputy as soon as I received them.