Michael McNamara (Clare, Independent)
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3151. To ask the Minister for Health the number of persons waiting on hip and or knee surgery and cataract surgery (details supplied) in County Clare; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40476/21]

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 sixteen months as a direct result of the COVID-19 pandemic and more recently as a result of the ransomware attack.

While significant progress was made in reducing waiting times from June 2020 onwards, the surge in Covid-19 cases in the first quarter of 2021, and the resultant curtailment of acute hospital services, is reflected in the most recently available waiting list figures to 13^thMay 2021.

On 23 March 2021 the HSE published the “Safe Return to Health Services Plan”, outlining a three phased approach for the proposed restoration of services across Community Services, Acute Hospital Operations, Cancer Services and Screening Services. It sets target times for their safe return and details the conditions and challenges that will have to be met. However, the implementation of this plan has been suspended pending the resolution of the recent ransomware attack, which had a significant impact on acute hospitals.

The HSE has been working since 14^thMay last to recover the effects of the cyber attack on its systems. The HSE advise that at present most systems are operational and services are returning to normal activity. There is a challenge in back entering data and there are still a number of areas of ongoing concern. The HSE was already seeking to recover from the Covid peak in the first quarter of this year and the ransomware attack has delayed this and had the effect of increasing access delays for services. My Department does not have full access to information on the impact of this ransomware attack on elective waiting lists but will provide an update as soon as one is available.

In recent years, my Department has worked with the HSE and the National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF) to improve access for patients waiting for high volume procedures, including cataracts. Ophthalmology services are provided throughout all hospital groups in the country, with cataract removal one of the key procedures carried out as part of this specialty.

A key development in improving access to Ophthalmology services was the opening of a stand-alone high-volume consultant-led cataract theatre by the University of Limerick Hospital Group in Nenagh Hospital in 2018, with the intention that it would facilitate patients from surrounding geographical areas to avail of their treatment there. The impact of such initiatives can be seen in the reduction in the waiting times to access cataract procedures since 2019. At the 13^thof May 2021 there were 4,275 patients waiting for a cataract procedure compared to 6,437 in January 2019.

Specifically in terms of hip and knee replacements, the NTPF have advised the Department that at the end of May 2020 there were 3,042 patients waiting nationally for such a procedure. Through focused activity, and with the support of the NTPF, at the 13^thMay 2021 this figure had fallen by 26 % to 2,256 patients.

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 a further €30m to the NTPF. This is to be used to fund additional capacity to address the shortfall arising as a result of infection control measures taken in the context of COVID-19, as well as addressing backlogs in waiting lists.

My Department, the HSE and the NTPF are currently working on a Multiannual Waiting List Plan to address waiting lists and bring them in line with Sláintecare targets over the coming years.

Due to the ongoing IT issues triggered by the HSE cyber-attack, the NTPF has been unable to receive weekly national hospital waiting list data or downloads. The latest published waiting list information was collated by the NTPF on 13th May 2021. The information requested by the Deputy concerning the number of persons waiting on hip and or knee surgery and cataract surgery in County Clare, routine and urgent, is outlined in the attached document. This information is based on the latest available data provided by the NTPF.

Total IPDC Waiting List for Hip, Knee and Cataract Surgery for Patients with an Area of Residence in Co. Clare by Clinical Priority as at 13/05/2021