Maurice Quinlivan (Limerick City, Sinn Fein)
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777. To ask the Minister for Health the resources that will be made available to increase capacity in the public health sector for access to diagnostics and the urgent recommencement of cancer screening programmes and access to time critical reviews for patients on surgical waiting lists. [14197/20]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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As this is a service matter, it has been referred to the Health Service Executive for attention and direct reply to the Deputy.

Maurice Quinlivan (Limerick City, Sinn Fein)
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778. To ask the Minister for Health the resources that have been assigned to build the capacity required to tackle the outpatient waiting lists for routine diagnostics, for example, cardiology and radiological scans. [14198/20]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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The HSE advises that a pilot project commenced in 2016 by the HSE Acute Hospitals Division to progress the collection of national radiology waiting list data. The project has been supported by the Radiology Clinical Care Programme and has involved key stakeholders across the system including the National Integrated Medical Imaging System (NIMIS) Team, Hospital Groups, and the support of the National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF) for data collection and data management expertise.

At present, the pilot project collects data relating to CT, MRI and Ultrasound. In Q1 2020, there were a total of 190,373 patients reported on the waiting list from all sites, this represents all outpatients waiting, urgent, semi urgent, routine and planned/surveillance (where diagnostic access is planned at particular time intervals).

In terms of medium-term planning for additional diagnostic capacity, the National Development Plan states that, new dedicated ambulatory elective only hospital facilities will be introduced in Dublin, Galway and Cork. As per the Development plan, these facilities will provide high volume, low complexity procedures on a day and outpatient basis, together with a range of ambulatory diagnostic services.

As part of the wider Sláintecare implementation, the Elective Hospitals Oversight Group, established by the Department of Health, is currently developing a high-level facilities spatial brief and order of magnitude costs which details the elective clustering of appropriate activities for each of the three facilities in Dublin, Cork and Galway. This will also include an output and facility specification, based on efficient and effective service delivery, which will include diagnostic procedures. This is due to be completed in the Autumn of 2020.

Maurice Quinlivan (Limerick City, Sinn Fein)
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779. To ask the Minister for Health if the necessary recruitment and investment will be increased for hospital consultants and healthcare science staff required to boost capacity in diagnostic services in view of the reduced capacity of HSE diagnostic pathways. [14199/20]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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The Programme for Government recognises that significant additional capacity is required in the context of responding to COVID-19. It also recognises that, in addition, even before its impact, additional capacity would be required to provide access to quality services and to meet the needs of our growing population.

Work is ongoing in the Department and in the HSE to quantify what the public health sectors workforce requirements will be going forward across all services, including capacity requirements to ensure sufficient diagnostic services. The provision of diagnostic services is a key platform of Sláintecare and will be a priority in the months and years ahead.