David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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858. To ask the Minister for Health the number of children currently waiting on a first outpatients appointment with a specialist consultant in the HSE, to include all hospitals not just children waiting to see a consultant in CHI; the length of the wait; the speciality they are waiting to see; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12973/21]

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 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.

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 addition the National Treatment Purchas Fund (NTPF) is currently reviewing strategies to maximise activity and benefit for patients, to include, increased use of private hospitals , funding weekend and evening work in public hospitals, funding “ see and treat” services where minor procedures are provided at the same time outpatient consultations, funding hybrid services where public and private hospitals contribute to the treatment of patients, virtual clinics, and clinical validation.

€240 million has been provided in Budget 2021 for an access to care fund, €210m of which has been allocated to the HSE and a further €30m to the National Treatment Purchase Fund. This will be used to fund additional capacity to address the shortfall arising as a result of measures taken in the context of Covid-19, as well as to address waiting lists.

The National Waiting List Management Policy is a standardised approach used by the HSE to manage scheduled care treatment for in-patient, day case and planned procedures. It sets out the processes that hospitals are to implement to manage waiting lists and was developed in 2014 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.

The data requested by the Deputy has been provided to my Department by the National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF) and is outlined in the attached document. This document provides a breakdown of the Outpatient waiting lists for children, by Specialty and the numbers waiting in each time-band as of the end of January 2021.

Child OP Waiting List Per Speciality at 28/01/2021

David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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859. To ask the Minister for Health when the HSE will establish child specific wait lists as per a recommendation of the Ombudsman for Children in 2017; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12974/21]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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The National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF) is a corporate body with functions and responsibilities as set out under Statutory Instrument 179 - National Treatment Purchase Fund (Establishment) Order, 2004. One of functions of the NTPF Board is to collect, collate and validate information in relation to persons waiting for hospital treatment in acute public hospitals in Ireland.

The NTPF has advised my Department that work is underway on the separation of adult and child waiting lists for inpatient, day case and outpatient waiting lists in public hospitals. The associated Statistical Disclosure Control (SDC) issues that arise from this work have presented a number of significant challenges which delayed the project to date.

However, the NTPF has advised that they plan to include Paediatric Waiting lists in the publication of the March 2021 waiting list figures.

David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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860. To ask the Minister for Health when the HSE will establish target outpatient wait times for children; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12975/21]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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The HSE Management Data Report (MDR) reports on HSE activity against Key Performance Indicators as set out in the National Service Plan for 2021. Under the National Service Plan 2021, the target for all hospital groups is for 75% of people, including children, to wait less than 52 weeks for a first Outpatient Department appointment.

The Department oversees the performance of the HSE in relation to the delivery of the services set out in its National Service Plan. This is achieved through an on-going monthly performance management process where the HSE reports against the targets set out in the Service Plan. Monthly high-level meetings between management in both organisations are held to discuss on-going or emerging performance issues and to determine actions to resolve and improve areas of concern. There is also regular engagement between HSE and departmental officials on a wide range of issues to ensure compliance with policy objectives.

Outpatient waiting list information has been collected and published by the National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF) since 2013. The data represents those waiting for a first appointment at a consultant-led Outpatient clinic. The Outpatient Waiting List report shows the total number of patients waiting, across the various time bands, for a first appointment at a consultant-led Outpatient clinic

The NTPF has advised my Department that work is underway on the separation of adult and child waiting lists for inpatient, day case and outpatient waiting lists in public hospitals. The associated Statistical Disclosure Control (SDC) issues that arise from this work have presented a number of significant challenges which delayed the project to date. However, the NTPF has advised that they plan to include Paediatric Waiting lists in the publication of the March 2021 waiting list figures.

David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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861. To ask the Minister for Health the number of patients waiting for a first outpatient appointment with a specialist consultant by wait times (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12976/21]

David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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862. To ask the Minister for Health if the NTPF will broaden the length of waiting times reported to include periods (details supplied) taking into consideration that some patients wait many years to access a first appointment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12977/21]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 861 and 862 together.

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 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.

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 addition the National Treatment Purchas Fund (NTPF) is currently reviewing strategies to maximise activity and benefit for patients, to include, increased use of private hospitals , funding weekend and evening work in public hospitals, funding “ see and treat” services where minor procedures are provided at the same time outpatient consultations, funding hybrid services where public and private hospitals contribute to the treatment of patients, virtual clinics, and clinical validation.

€240 million has been provided in Budget 2021 for an access to care fund, €210m of which has been allocated to the HSE and a further €30m to the National Treatment Purchase Fund. This will be used to fund additional capacity to address the shortfall arising as a result of measures taken in the context of Covid-19, as well as to address waiting lists.

The National Waiting List Management Policy is a standardised approach used by the HSE to manage scheduled care treatment for in-patient, day case and planned procedures. It sets out the processes that hospitals are to implement to manage waiting lists and was developed in 2014 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.

The data requested by the Deputy has been provided to my Department by the National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF) and is outlined in the attached document. This document provides a breakdown of the over 18-month outpatient waiting list, by the time-bands specified by the deputy, as of the end of January 2021.

The NTPF has advised my Department that they are currently reviewing the published waiting list reports in the context of the separation of adult and child waiting lists. As part of these considerations, they will have regard to the request for greater detail in the published reports for longer waiting time bands. Statistical Disclosure Control (SDC) will also be taken into account in these considerations in order to preserve patient confidentiality.

Total Paitents Waiting for a First Outpatient Appointment over 18 Months by Wait Time Band as at 28/01/2021