Noel Grealish (Galway West, Independent)
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689. To ask the Minister for Health the average waiting times for persons on the waiting list for inpatient and outpatient treatment as orthopaedic patents at Merlin Park Hospital, Galway; and the longest time persons have been on the waiting lists. [3698/21]

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.

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 are 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. The HSE continues to optimise productivity through alternative work practices such as the use of alternative settings including private hospitals, community facilities and alternative outpatient settings.

In regard to the information requested by the Deputy, The National Treatment Purchase Fund has advised my Department, that they do not receive any extract files for Merlin Park Hospital. Data for Merlin Park is instead incorporated into the Galway University Hospital waiting list. In light of this, the NTPF have provided the requested waiting times data at Galway University Hospital. This information is outlined in the attached document.

The Deputy should be aware that due to a recent upgrade to their Patient Management System (iPMS) GUH were unable to provide updated outpatient waiting list data for the last three months of 2020 to the NTPF. This issue is being resolved and it is expected that that full outpatient data from GUH will be included in NTPF's January figures.

Average and Max Wait Times (in days) for Orthopaedic Patients in Galway University Hospitals by List Type as at 23/12/2020

Noel Grealish (Galway West, Independent)
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690. To ask the Minister for Health the steps he will take to reduce the outpatient waiting lists for orthopaedic treatment at Merlin Park Hospital, Galway; and if he will take steps to ensure patients can be treated in other hospitals in view of the fact that the number of persons waiting for treatment for over 18 months has more than doubled in the past year. [3696/21]

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.

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 are 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. The HSE continues to optimise productivity through alternative work practices such as the use of alternative settings including private hospitals, community facilities and alternative outpatient settings.

In light of the current curtailment of non-urgent scheduled care, the NTPF is working with Hospital Groups to approve offers of treatment as required by the hospital for specific specialties and procedures. In addition to core HSE activity, the NTPF have advised my department that they have also approved 2 IPDC orthopaedics initiatives for funding so far in 2021 for Galway University Hospital, which will facilitate treatment for 37 patients on orthopaedics waiting lists.

An additional €240 million has been provided in Budget 2021 for an Access to Care Fund, €210m of which has been allocated to the HSE and €30m to the NTPF for the provision of treatment as required in both private and public hospitals in order to address capacity issues in acute hospitals and waiting lists.

In relation to the particular query raised, concerning Merlin Park Hospital, as this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.