Noel Grealish (Galway West, Independent)
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1788. To ask the Minister for Health the waiting list for children seeking new appointments and repeat appointments at a paediatric chronic pain clinic; if the waiting list is open or closed to new referrals; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15437/21]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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I recognise that waiting times for scheduled appointments and procedures have been impacted in the last year as a direct result of the COVID-19 pandemic and acknowledge the distress and inconvenience for patients and their families.

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 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.

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