Written answers
Wednesday, 5 December 2018
Department of Health
Hospital Waiting Lists Data
Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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254. To ask the Minister for Health the number of patients on waiting lists for hip replacements at various hospitals throughout the country; the longest period of time a patient has been on this waiting list; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51221/18]
Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Improving access to hospital treatment is a key priority for Government.
This year has seen ongoing improvements with the number of patients waiting for inpatient and daycase procedures (IPDC), now at 72,100 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. The number of patients waiting over 9 months has reduced from over 28,100 to just over 17,500 in the same period equating to a 37% reduction.
The Inpatient/Daycase Action Plan 2018, published earlier this year, placed a particular focus on hip and knee replacements, with €9.8 million allocated by the NTPF for such procedures. The Plan committed to offering procedures to all patients waiting more than 9 months for a hip replacement in 2018, if clinically suitable for treatment.
Waiting list data provided (and attached for the information of the Deputy) by the National Treatment Purchase Fund shows that there are 1,509 patients waiting for a hip replacement. The data shows that there has been considerable progress towards meeting the targets of the Action Plan with 1,334 (88%) patients waiting less than 9 months. The data shows that the longest wait for a hip replacement is 1,215 days.
Budget 2019 announced that the Government had further increased investment in tackling waiting lists, with funding to the National Treatment Purchase fund (NTPF) increasing from €55 million in 2018 to €75 million in 2019.
My Department is working closely with the NTPF and the HSE to finalise a Scheduled Care Access Plan for inpatients/daycase and outpatients for 2019.
In 2019, the NTPF and the HSE will continue to work with Hospital Groups, inviting proposals to improve access for patients waiting for either Inpatient/Daycase or Outpatient procedures.
Hip replacement waits as at Nov 29th 2018
| Sum of Count | Column Labels | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Row Labels | 0-3 Months | 3-6 Months | 6-9 Months | 9-12 Months | 12-15 Months | 15-18 Months | 18+ Months | Grand Total |
| Beaumont Hospital | 16 | 5 | 8 | 4 | 33 | |||
| Cappagh National Orthopaedic Hospital | 209 | 102 | 35 | 8 | 2 | 3 | 359 | |
| Connolly Hospital Blanchardstown | 9 | 9 | ||||||
| Croom Orthopaedic Hospital | 30 | 14 | 2 | 1 | 47 | |||
| Galway University Hospitals | 27 | 21 | 13 | 5 | 6 | 3 | 8 | 83 |
| Letterkenny University Hospital | 45 | 30 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 85 |
| Lourdes Orthopaedic Hospital Kilcreene | 72 | 15 | 2 | 1 | 90 | |||
| Mater Misericordiae University Hospital | 2 | 6 | 2 | 10 | ||||
| Mayo University Hospital | 44 | 30 | 26 | 13 | 8 | 2 | 6 | 129 |
| Midland Regional Hospital Tullamore | 52 | 31 | 13 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 7 | 116 |
| Our Lady's Hospital Navan | 56 | 28 | 16 | 3 | 1 | 104 | ||
| Sligo University Hospital | 13 | 6 | 3 | 22 | ||||
| South Infirmary Victoria University Hospital | 55 | 25 | 8 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 100 | |
| St. James's Hospital | 13 | 7 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 35 |
| St. Vincent's University Hospital | 3 | 2 | 5 | |||||
| Tallaght University Hospital | 70 | 47 | 31 | 27 | 10 | 3 | 5 | 193 |
| Temple Street Children's University Hospital | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| University Hospital Kerry | 29 | 27 | 24 | 2 | 82 | |||
| University Hospital Waterford | 4 | 1 | 1 | 6 | ||||
| Grand Total | 749 | 397 | 188 | 80 | 40 | 15 | 40 | 1509 |
Longest wait 1215 days.
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