John Curran (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail)
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382. To ask the Minister for Health when the HSE and NTPF will finalise and publish an outpatient action plan for 2018; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38894/18]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I wish to assure the Deputy that my Department, in consultation with the HSE and National Treatment Purchase Fund, is in the process of finalising an Outpatient Action Plan for the remainder of 2018 and I hope to publish it shortly.

The Plan will support the HSE’s compliance with their National Service Plan targets, reduce the growth in the number of patients waiting for outpatient services.

In addition, in June this year I approved the establishment of a Central Waiting List Validation function with the NTPF. The new Office will deliver a standardisation of approach of validation across all waiting lists and all hospitals in line with the best patient-centred practices. The validation of waiting lists will better inform the true demand for hospital services and enable improved efficiency and patient scheduling.

Furthermore, the NTPF has recently commenced trialing a number of outpatient interventions, including weekend and out of hours clinics. The NTPF has invited proposals from hospital groups and to date this has resulted in the approval of 12,600 outpatient appointments.

I acknowledge that, nationally, the Outpatient waiting list is a challenge to be addressed in 2018. Waiting times can often be unacceptably long and I am conscious of the burden that this places on patients and their families.