Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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503. To ask the Minister for Health if children awaiting hospital procedures that had surgery cancelled due to Covid-19 and have turned 16 years of age during this period will still be treated under the child health services and maintain their position on the waiting list such as in the case of a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13305/20]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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In response to the Covid-19 pandemic the HSE had to take measures to defer all non-urgent elective scheduled care activity, including outpatient clinics. This was to ensure patient safety and that all appropriate resources were made available for Covid-19 related activity and time-critical essential work. This decision was in line with the advice issued by the National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET), the World Health Organisation, and the National Action Plan published on 16 March. The trajectory of the disease means there is now an opportunity for increasing the provision of non-covid care including more routine care.

The National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET) has approved a number of recommendations relating to protecting and maximising the delivery of essential time-critical non-Covid-19 care alongside Covid-19 care. On 5 May, NPHET agreed that its recommendation of 27 March, in regard to the pausing of all non-essential health services should be replaced, in relation to acute care, with a recommendation that delivery of acute care be determined by appropriate clinical and operational decision making. Application of the essential risk mitigating steps set out in the guidance developed under the auspices of the NPHET Expert Advisory group will have operational implications, which will impact on throughput.

Where possible, hospitals are working to find innovative ways to enable service provision, which include virtual clinics for some outpatient department appointments. The HSE website provides details on services currently available and operational in each hospital on its website. This information is reviewed frequently and provides up-to-date announcements on services available at each site ().

Children’s Health Ireland (CHI) advise that, patient, family and staff safety is paramount to CHI as they respond to the challenges of COVID-19. CHI have advised that they regret cancellations of any in-patient and day case procedur that patients and their families have had to endure due to national guidance on COVID-19.

Children are booked firstly by clinical prioritisation and then chronologically for completion of in-patient and day case procedures.  All surgical procedures are booked as a result of an outpatient consultation with the appropriate clinical team.  CHI can advise that where a young person has turned 16 years of age during the COVID-19 pandemic they continue to be booked for completion of their procedure in CHI, following the above standardised criteria at the earliest opportunity.  Parents/Guardians will be contacted with scheduled dates by CHI as soon as they are available.

A post-operative review will then be scheduled at which time a clinical decision will then be taken as to whether the young person can be discharged or if they require transition to the relevant adult services and families will be advised of this.

Under the Health Act 2004, the Health Service Executive (HSE) is required to manage and deliver, or arrange to be delivered on its behalf, health and personal social services. Section 6 of the HSE Governance Act 2013 bars the Minister for Health from directing the HSE to provide a treatment or a personal service to any individual or to confer eligibility on any individual.

The National Waiting List Management Policy, a standardised approach to managing scheduled care treatment for in-patient, day case and planned procedures, since January 2014, has been developed to ensure that all administrative, managerial and clinical staff follow an agreed national minimum standard for the management and administration of waiting lists for scheduled care. This policy, which has been adopted by the HSE, sets out the processes that hospitals are to implement to manage waiting lists.

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