Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein)
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464. To ask the Minister for Health if hip replacement operations have come to a halt or slowed in number in Our Lady's Hospital, Navan; the number of hip replacement operations carried out at Our Lady's Hospital, Navan, in each month in the past two years; and if persons who are on the Navan hip replacement list are having their operations carried out in other hospitals here or outside the State under the National Treatment Purchase Fund. [42286/18]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Reducing waiting time for patients for hospital operations and procedures is a key priority for the Government. This year has seen ongoing improvements with the number of patients waiting for inpatient and daycase procedures (IPDC), now at 72,700 from the peak of 86,100 in July 2017. This represents a 16% reduction in the overall number of patients waiting for an inpatient or day case procedure.

In addition, the waiting list figures show that since July 2017, the number of patients waiting for a hip/knee replacement has reduced from 3,500 to 2,800 at the end of September 2018 equating to a reduction of 21% while the number of patients waiting over 9 months has more than halved from 1,019 to 444 in the same period.

In Budget 2019 the Government has further increased investment in this area, with funding to the NTPF to increase from €55m in 2018 to €75m in 2019. My Department is working closely with the National Treatment Purchase Fund and the HSE to finalise the 2019 Waiting List Initiatives before the end of this year. This approach is to ensure a seamless continuation of the considerable progress made this year into next year.

In relation to the particular query raised, as this is a service matter, I have asked the HSE to respond to the Deputy directly.