David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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529. To ask the Minister for Health the number of persons on waiting lists for each discipline, speciality and sub-speciality for each hospital; the number waiting according to the same monthly categories issued by the National Treatment Purchase Fund, NTPF, on the basis of the December 2020 waiting list figures; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2455/21]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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It is recognised that waiting times for scheduled appointments and procedures have been impacted in the last year as a direct result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Further to the deferral of most scheduled care activity in March, April, and May of last year due to the pandemic, the HSE is currently recommending that only critical time dependent elective procedures are undertaken at this time due to the on-going and significant increased demand for bed capacity related to Covid-19.

This decision was made arising from the rapid increase in Covid-19 admissions and to ensure patient safety and that all appropriate resources were made available for Covid-19 related activity and time-critical essential work.

Patient safety remains at the centre of all hospital activity and elective care scheduling. To ensure services are provided in a safe, clinically aligned and prioritised way, hospitals are following HSE clinical guidelines and protocols.

In relation to the information requested by the Deputy, the attached spreadsheets outline the Inpatient and Day Case (IPDC) waiting list by hospital, the IPDC waiting list by specialty, the Outpatient (OPD) waiting list by hospital and the Outpatient waiting list by specialty at the end of December 2020. This information is also available on the National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF) website , where the breakdown by specialty for each hospital is also available.