Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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213. To ask the Minister for Health the number of persons awaiting orthopaedic surgical appointments; the extent to which this number has fluctuated over the past five years to date; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12615/19]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I am conscious that waiting times are often unacceptably long and of the burden that this places on patients and their families. In this regard, I am committed to improving waiting times for hospital appointments and procedures.

The recently published National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF) Waiting List figures show that at the end of February 2019, there are 10,949 patients on the Orthopaedics Inpatient and Daycase (IPDC) waiting list. Of these, 62% (6,837) are waiting 6 months or less, 77% (8,402) are waiting 9 months or less and 15% (1,657) are waiting over 12 months.

Budget 2019 announced that the Government had further increased investment in tackling waiting lists, with funding to the NTPF increasing from €55 million in 2018 to €75 million in 2019.

I published the joint Department of Health, Health Service Executive (HSE) and National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF) Scheduled Care Access Plan earlier this week. This Plan sets out a number of commitments aimed at improving access for patients waiting for hospital operations or procedures as well as patients waiting for a first Outpatient appointment.

The data requested by the Deputy is contained in the following table. These figures are published by the NTPF on their website ntpf.ie.

Orthopaedic IPDC Waiting List -Dec 2014 - February 2019

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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214. To ask the Minister for Health the number of persons currently on public hospital waiting lists for various procedures; the length of time they have remained on these lists; when they can expect to receive treatment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12616/19]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I am conscious that waiting times are often unacceptably long and of the burden that this places on patients and their families. In this regard, I am committed to improving waiting times for hospital appointments and procedures.

The latest published National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF) Inpatient and Daycase waiting list figures, show that at the end of February 2019 there are 71,205 patients on the IPDC waiting list. From a peak of 86,100 in July 2017, this represents a decrease of over 17% in the overall number of patients waiting for a procedure.

Since July 2017 the number of patients waiting longer than 3 months has fallen from just under 58,000 to 44,800 at the end of February 2019. This represents a reduction of 23% in the number of patients waiting.

I published the joint Department of Health, Health Service Executive (HSE) and National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF) Scheduled Care Access Plan earlier this week. This Plan sets out a number of commitments aimed at improving access for patients waiting for hospital operations or procedures as well as patients waiting for a first Outpatient appointment. It includes a high level activity target from the HSE in line with the National Service Plan to deliver 1.155 million elective inpatient and day case discharges and 3.3 million outpatients appointments in 2019. While the NTPF will provide additionality through arranging treatments for 25,000 elective inpatient and day case procedures; 5,000 Gastro Intestinal Scopes; and 40,000 outpatient first appointments.

The data requested by the deputy is outlined in the tables. These figures are published by the NTPF on their website ntpf.ie

All National Hospitals - National Waiting list by Speciality.