Seán Fleming (Laois, Fianna Fail)
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557. To ask the Minister for Health if a person (details supplied) can receive ophthalmology treatment in the Royal Victoria Eye and Ear Hospital under the National Treatment Purchase Fund; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44902/18]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Reducing waiting times for patients for hospital operations and procedures is a key priority for the Government. The Inpatient and Daycase Action Plan 2018 outlines the combined impact of Health Service Executive (HSE) and National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF) activity in 2018 to reduce the number of patients waiting for treatment. The plan has already resulted in ongoing improvements with a 16% decrease in the number of patients waiting for procedures since July 2017.

As part of the Action Plan the NTPF has committed to make offers of treatment to patients waiting for one of 50 high-volume procedures including cataracts. In this context, all patients who are clinically suitable for outsourcing who are waiting more than 9 months for one of these targeted procedures will be offered treatment in 2018.

In terms of treatment offers, the NTPF authorises public hospitals to offer outsourced treatment to clinically suitable long-waiting patients who are on an inpatient/day case waiting list for surgery, having been referred on to such a list following clinical assessment by a consultant/specialist at an outpatient clinic. NTPF authorisations are made in respect of the longest-waiting patients first.

The Government is committed to maintaining this positive trend into next year and Budget 2019 announced a total allocation of €75 million for the NTPF. In 2019, NTPF activity will aim to remove over 100,000 patients from Hospital Waiting Lists through a combination of arranging treatments for patients and through the activity of the Central Waiting List Validation Unit of the NTPF.