Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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222. To ask the Minister for Health the extent to which the National Treatment Purchase Fund can be utilised to alleviate waiting lists at various public hospitals; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28584/18]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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The National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF) is responsible for collecting and validating all waiting lists for public hospitals. The most recently published NTPF figures for the end of May confirm that just under 78,600 patients are waiting for a hospital inpatient or day case procedure.

In Budget 2018, €50 million was provided to the NTPF to provide treatment for public patients this year, which more than doubled its 2017 total allocation for the NTPF.

I published the Inpatient and Day Case Action Plan in April which marked a very important milestone in delivering on the Government’s objective to tackle waiting lists. The Action Plan is a joint initiative between my Department, the NTPF and the HSE and has been developed to ensure an appropriate balance between high volume activities and offering treatment to complex long waiting patients.

Under the Plan, in 2018 the HSE will deliver 1.14 million hospital operations or procedures and the NTPF will deliver 22,000 Inpatient Day Case treatments. The NTPF commits to offer treatment to all patients waiting more than 9 months for treatment in a number of high volume specialities - including cataract, hip and knee replacement, tonsils and scopes.

Under the Plan, the NTPF and HSE will also invite proposals from hospitals for waiting list initiatives. The NTPF will provide funding to the solutions proposed if appropriate.