Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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3153. To ask the Minister for Health the status of the gynaecological outpatients waiting list in Louth County Hospital and Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Drogheda; the position regarding the proposed community-based ambulatory gynaecology services in Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Drogheda; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40487/21]

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.

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 National Treatment Purchase Fund (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.

The information requested by the Deputy concerning the status of the gynaecological outpatients waiting list in Louth County Hospital and Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Drogheda is outlined in the attached document.

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 13^thMay 2021.

The Department continues to work with the HSE’s National Women & Infants Health Programme to improve access and ensure a more sustainable gynaecology service. The Programme has developed an Ambulatory Gynaecology Model of Care which centres on the establishment of one-stop “see and treat” ambulatory gynaecology clinics. The roll out of Phase One of the Model of Care commenced in 2020, and funding has been provided under Budget 2021 to establish and/or expand services across additional clinics in 2021, including at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda. The HSE has advised that work to establish the ambulatory gynaecology clinic in Drogheda is progressing, including in relation to the design, fit out, equipping, and recruitment of staff for the new clinic.